Recipients of the 8th PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Malaysia), presented by Kohler, were announced today in an innovative virtual gala presentation broadcast on AsiaPropertyAwards.com and multiple digital platforms, with highlights to air on the History Channel.

The programme celebrated the achievements of the real estate sector from north to south Malaysia in 25 categories, including special honours and new titles.

For the second year in a row, the coveted Best Developer award was presented to Tropicana Corporation Berhad. The company accumulated a total of six gold statuettes and two Highly Commended citations, including the never-before-presented title of Best Developer (Central Malaysia) as well as the Best High End Landed Development award for Tropicana Aman – Freesia Residences.
Matrix Concepts Holdings Berhad was crowned Best Township Developer and received three special honours. Ho Kong Soon, the Group Managing Director of Matrix Concepts Holdings Berhad, accepted the 2021 Malaysia Real Estate Personality of the Year title, an award decided by editors of PropertyGuru Property Report Magazine. The title secures the Matrix Concepts Holdings Berhad leader’s legacy in the conceptualisation, development and stewardship of well-thought-out townships and communities across Malaysia.

Ho Kong Soon said: “I would like to dedicate the award this year to all my stakeholders as well as the Matrix team because of their dedication and their commitment to make all this possible.”

Other winners in the Developer categories were OCR Group Berhad and Ideal Property Group, hailed Best Lifestyle Developer and Best Affordable Homes Developer, respectively.

The 2021 edition of the awards included honours for developments with mass appeal. Ideal Property Group won Best Mass Market Condo/Apartment Development (Northern) for Havana Beach Residences while Mah Sing Group Berhad won Best Mass Market Condo/Apartment Development (Central) for M Luna.

Projects by companies under Sime Darby Berhad dominated the Best of Malaysia categories. Senada Residences by Sime Darby Brunsfield Resort Sdn Bhd. won the highly competitive Best Condo/Apartment Development (Malaysia) award, in addition to the Best High End Condo/Apartment Development (Central) title. Elmina Green 4 by Sime Darby Property (City of Elmina) Sdn. Bhd. won the equally coveted Best Housing/Landed Development (Malaysia) award, in addition to the Best Landed Development (Central) title.
Meanwhile, Cantara Residences by Sime Darby Property (Ara Damansara) Sdn Bhd won Best Mid End Condo/Apartment Development (Central) while The Detached Factories by Sime Darby Property (Bukit Raja) Sdn. Bhd. won Best Industrial Development.

Other winning projects were Agile Mont Kiara by Agile Real Estate Development Sdn Bhd; AraTre’ Residences @ Ara Damansara by Puncakdana Sdn Bhd; Aurora Resort Villas by Country View Berhad; Ion Forte Green City by NCT Group of Companies; KCC City Business Park, Muar by KCC Realty; Mutiara Rini Skudai by Boustead Properties Berhad; and Terra by Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd.
The 2021 edition of the PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Malaysia) marks the programme’s second annual virtual gala celebration, following a successful inaugural virtual gala event that engaged consumers, agents and investors across Asia Pacific in 2020.

Hari V. Krishnan, Chief Executive Officer of PropertyGuru Group, said: “Our awards programme in Malaysia is an extension of our strong market position and business performance. The eighth edition of our awards in Malaysia recognises built spaces with various degrees of opulence and affordability, giving property access to a wide array of income groups across the country. Showcasing a wealth of choices in quality real estate, the awards elevate the achievements of innovative developers across Malaysia.”

Jules Kay, Managing Director of PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards and Events, said: “The choices on offer in terms of quality real estate in Malaysia have increased significantly, making it one of the region’s most compelling real estate investment destinations. We are delighted to recognise the resilience of developers in these challenging times. The entries feature a variety of condo and housing projects that cater to the different needs and budgets of property buyers.”

The independent panel of judges that determined this year’s awardees were Prem Kumar, Awards Chairperson and Deputy Managing Director, Jones Lang Wootton; Blaine Robert, CEO and Creative Director, Blaine Robert Design; Chris Tia, Principal and Managing Partner, Tia & Noordin; Dr. Daniele Gambero, CEO and Propenomist, REI Group of Companies; Sr. Engad Ravana, Principal, ER Consult; Sr Low Han Hoe, Senior Manager, Investment & Agency, Nawawi Tie Leung Real Estate Consultants Sdn Bhd; Ar. Mustapha Kamal Zulkarnain, Founder and Principal, Arkitek Mustapha Kamal; Datuk Ar Hj Saiful Anuar Abdul Aziz, Principal, Anuar Aziz Architect, a member of Arte Axis Design Group; Tan Hui Yin, Partner, Tan Chap & Associates; and Ir. Dr. Zulhkiple A Bakar, Managing Director, Perunding ZAB Sdn Bhd.

The site inspection judges consist of Charles Tan Chia Lih, Owner, KopiandProperty.com blog; Ir. Dr. Justin Lai, Managing Director, IPM Group; Law Lee Kiau, President, Johor Interior Designer Association; Miichael Yeoh, CEO & Founder, GM Training Academy PLT; Ng Wee Kwong, Property Invester; and Richard Oon Hock Chye, Executive Director, ShineWing TY TEOH Consulnet Tax Sdn. Bhd.

The team of HLB Ler Lum Chew – HLB Malaysia, led by John Ler, International Contact Partner, and Kelvin Chew, Managing Partner, maintained the fairness, transparency, integrity and credibility of the awards programme throughout the judging process.

The 8th PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Malaysia) come ahead of the highly anticipated event series known as PropertyGuru Week in December. These include the 16th PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards Grand Final, where main winners from Malaysia will compete with country winners around Asia Pacific for various Best in Asia titles. The 2021 editions of the awards programme for Australia, China (Mainland, Hong Kong, and Macau), Greater Niseko (Japan), India, and Sri Lanka will take place in the run-up to the Grand Final.

The Grand Final will be preceded by the opening of the 2021 PropertyGuru Asia Real Estate Summit’s virtual world, covering topics like the data landscape, accessible data, sustainable development, and data innovation.

Organised by Southeast Asia’s leading property technology company, PropertyGuru Group, the 8th PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Malaysia) programme is supported by platinum sponsor Kohler; official portal partner PropertyGuru.com.my; official cable TV partner History Channel; official magazine PropertyGuru Property Report; official PR partner Klareco Communications; media partners KopiandProperty.com, Malaysian Business, Penang Property Talk, and The Grid Asia; official charity partner Right To Play; official ESG partner Baan Dek Foundation; supporting association Asia MarTech Society; and official supervisor HLB.

For more information, email awards@propertyguru.com or visit the official website: AsiaPropertyAwards.com.

LIST OF WINNERS AND HIGHLY COMMENDED AWARDEES
8th PropertyGuru Asia Property Awards (Malaysia)

DEVELOPER AWARDS

Best Developer
WINNER: Tropicana Corporation Berhad

Best Developer (Central Malaysia)
WINNER: Tropicana Corporation Berhad
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd

Best Township Developer
WINNER: Matrix Concepts Holdings Berhad

Best Lifestyle Developer
WINNER: OCR Group Berhad
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Binastra Land Sdn Bhd

Best Affordable Homes Developer
WINNER: Ideal Property Group

DEVELOPMENT AWARDS

Best High End Condo/Apartment Development (Central)
WINNER: Senada Residences by Sime Darby Brunsfield Resort Sdn Bhd
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Grand Ion Majestic by NCT Alliance Berhad

Best Mid End Condo/Apartment Development (Central)
WINNER: Cantara Residences by Sime Darby Property (Ara Damansara) Sdn Bhd
HIGHLY COMMENDED: AraTre’ Residences @ Ara Damansara by Puncakdana Sdn Bhd
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Aura Residence by Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd
HIGHLY COMMENDED: One Cochrane Residences by Boustead Properties Berhad
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Tropicana Metropark – SouthPlace Residences by Tropicana Corporation Berhad

Best Mass Market Condo/Apartment Development (Central)
WINNER: M Luna by Mah Sing Group Berhad

Best Mass Market Condo/Apartment Development (Northern)
WINNER: Havana Beach Residences by Ideal Property Group

Best Leisure Condo/Apartment Development
WINNER: Ion Forte Green City by NCT Group of Companies

Best High End Landed Development
WINNER: Tropicana Aman – Freesia Residences by Tropicana Corporation Berhad

Best Landed Development (Central)
WINNER: Elmina Green 4 by Sime Darby Property (City of Elmina) Sdn. Bhd.
HIGHLY COMMENDED: 118 Residence @ Kinrara by Mahajaya Berhad
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Mutiara Hills by Boustead Properties Berhad

Best Mega Township Development
WINNER: Mutiara Rini Skudai by Boustead Properties Berhad
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Bandar Sri Sendayan by Matrix Concepts Holdings Berhad
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Taman Impian Emas, Johor Bahru by Gunung Impian Development Sdn Bhd

Best Mixed Use Development
WINNER: Terra by Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd

Best Industrial Development
WINNER: The Detached Factories by Sime Darby Property (Bukit Raja) Sdn. Bhd.

Best Retail Development
WINNER: KCC City Business Park, Muar by KCC Realty
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Tropicana Metropark – SouthPlace Shoppes by Tropicana Corporation Berhad

DESIGN AWARDS

Best Condo/Apartment Architectural Design
WINNER: AraTre’ Residences @ Ara Damansara by Puncakdana Sdn Bhd
HIGHLY COMMENDED: Trion 2 @ KL by Binastra

Best Club House Design
WINNER: Aurora Resort Villas by Country View Berhad

Best Landscape Architectural Design
WINNER: Agile Mont Kiara by Agile Real Estate Development Sdn Bhd

BEST OF MALAYSIA AWARDS

Best Condo/Apartment Development (Malaysia)
WINNER: Senada Residences by Sime Darby Brunsfield Resort Sdn Bhd

Best Housing/Landed Development (Malaysia)
WINNER: Elmina Green 4 by Sime Darby Property (City of Elmina) Sdn. Bhd.

SPECIAL AWARDS

Special Recognition in ESG
WINNER: Matrix Concepts Holdings Berhad
WINNER: Tropicana Corporation Berhad

Special Recognition for CSR
WINNER: Matrix Concepts Holdings Berhad
WINNER: OCR Group Berhad
WINNER: Tropicana Corporation Berhad

Special Recognition in Sustainable Design and Construction
WINNER: Binastra Land Sdn Bhd
WINNER: Ideal Property Group
WINNER: Matrix Concepts Holdings Berhad
WINNER: Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd
WINNER: Tropicana Corporation Berhad

PUBLISHER’S CHOICE

Malaysia Real Estate Personality of the Year
WINNER: Ho Kong Soon, Group Managing Director, Matrix Concepts Holdings Berhad

About Metropol

A mixed development by Ramana Property at Bandar Perda in Bukit Mertajam. It is located near Jalan Perda Utama roundabout, featuring less than 10 minutes drive from Penang bridge. Featuring 326 residential units with built-up size ranging from 810sq.ft. to 1,845sq.ft. Amenities such as schools, hypermarket, banks, shopping malls, and eateries are only a few minutes drive away.

Find out more about Metropol

Penang Institute today unveiled the results of its Happiness in Penang (HIP) Index and found that 76.5% of the 3,011 residents surveyed identified as happy.

The survey, which was conducted during October 2020 and May 2021, found 23.5% of the respondents are “not-yet-happy”, 13.7% are “narrowly happy” and 9.9% are unhappy.

The survey also found that 78.2% of the respondents are happy with the freedom and governance in the state.

It found that 79.1% of respondents are happy with their economic wellbeing, 76.1% are happy with the environmental sustainability efforts taken by the state government and 79.3% are happy with the liveability and social wellbeing in Penang.

According to Penang Institute senior analyst Negin Vaghefi, statistically the 3,011 respondents are representative of Penang’s estimated 1.8 million population with a margin of error of about two percent.

Penang Institute Chief Operations Officer Ong Siou Woon said the HIP Index survey was conducted between October last year and May this year where about 1,400 respondents are online and the remaining are through face-to-face interviews.

“This survey was conducted using Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness Index (GNH) framework,” she said in a press conference revealing the results of the survey.

She said the HIP Index covered four domains, namely: freedom and governance, economic wellbeing, environmental sustainability and liveability and social wellbeing.

“According to the respondents, Penang is a very liveable city where most indicators under the domain of liveability and social wellbeing achieved a strong level of satisfaction,” she said.

“Although some respondents indicated that their state of life was better before the Covid-19 pandemic, more than half professed themselves to be in at least a good stage of life,” she added.

However, when it comes to freedom and governance, she said there was a neutral attitude with governance achieving the lowest level of satisfaction while a high percentage are satisfied with their religious, cultural and spiritual freedom.

“Satisfaction over financial security are at considerably lower levels although high satisfaction levels are seen for social and economic mobility and household expenditure,” she said.

Another senior analyst Yeong Pey Jung noted that a large number of the respondents do not have sufficient savings to last them a year if they were to lose their main source of income.

Meanwhile, Ong said the HIP Index survey is the first of its kind in the country and it will be used for comparison for future similar surveys to be carried out by Penang Institute.

“We will conduct this survey every two to three years so we will be preparing for a similar survey in the first half of next year,” Ong said.

She said the respondents of the survey are from all over Penang in which 54.3% are female and the remaining 45.7% are male.

Out of the 3,011 respondents, 33.6% are from Northeast district on the island, 16.9% from the southwest district on the island, 15.3% from Seberang Perai Utara, 14.5% from Seberang Perai Tengah and 19.7% from Seberang Perai Selatan.

“Each domain and its respective indicators make different contributions to the overall happiness of Penangites, illustrating that happiness, satisfaction and sufficiency are subjective to each individual, and not clearly based on material factors alone,” she said.

Ong said the full report on the HIP Index will be published on the Penang Institute website next month.

Source: MalayMail.com

A total 30,290 units of completed houses with a value of RM19.75 billion were reported unsold in the third quarter of this year.

Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Abdul Muttalib said data by the National Property Information Centre (NAPIC) revealed a 2.64 per cent decrease in the number of unsold residential units in the third quarter compared with the second quarter of the year (a total 31,112 unsold completed houses worth RM20.1 billion).

The slight drop in unsold housing properties, he said, was attributed to numerous promotional efforts by developers including reducing prices or offering discounts to house buyers.

“This was shown by the reduction in the House Price Index in the third quarter of 2021 (preliminary) recorded at 198.6 index point compared with the third quarter of 2020 at 199.9, which is a 0.7 per cent drop.

“It is hoped that more developers will reduce the prices of houses to address the property overhang and restore the residential property market,” he said in reply to a question from Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub (BN-Machang).

Ismail said Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Selangor and Johor recorded the highest number of unsold houses.

Among the factors that contributed to the property overhang were supplies that did not match the demands in localities, prices and household income mismatch and unattractive locations of housing projects, as well as house buying transactions through sub-sales, he said.

He said Big Data Analytics (BDA) was being conducted to get the real picture and existing data related to the housing sector in Malaysia as part of measures to address the issue.

He said the study, which started in February, was expected to be completed in May next year.

Preliminary findings revolved around housing data related to supply and demand at various state agencies and departments.

“There is a need to establish a repository data centre to enable main industry players to use the same data for projections related to housing supply and demand, affordability, available financing, housing financing schemes, policy development and forecast for housing needs.

“The study will also determine the direction for the development of a comprehensive a BDA system that covers data needs, technology, expertise and its costs.”

Another measure taken by the ministry to address the issue were Home Ownership Campaigns (HOC), which offered duty stamp exemption and a 10 per cent discount on houses priced between RM300,000 and RM2.5 million by developers registered with the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Rehda).

Ismail said the ministry was considering extending the HOC, originally slated to end Dec 31.

The residential property market however is expected to remain sluggish until end of this year, he said.

He added that the ministry was also considering to introduce requirement or guidelines for developers to submit feasibility studies in applying for planning permission.

“The findings (in the feasibility study) will help in preventing development projects that are irrelevant to current market demands.”

Source: NST Online

The Covid-19 pandemic, which began in the first quarter of last year, has thrust purpose-built workers’ accommodation (PBWA) into the spotlight, establishing it as a new emerging asset class.

According to Knight Frank Malaysia’s recently released Workers’ Dormitories publication, demand for quality and well-planned workers’ accommodations is expected to rise.

Allan Sim, executive director of capital markets – industrial at Knight Frank Malaysia, said that PBWA is a niche, non-traditional, and relatively new asset class, with the majority of such existing establishments concentrated in high economic growth regions such as Selangor, Johor, and Penang.

He said that, while the majority of the country’s existing PBWAs are owner-operated, more industry players such as operators, investors, and developers are jumping on the PBWA bandwagon to meet growing short to long-term demand for compliant workers’ housing.

“More recently, in the case of Westlite-PKNS Petaling Jaya, a master lease model was adopted whereby the owner entered into a master lease agreement with a single professional operator to run the dormitory,” he said.

Interest from institutional investors, according to Sim, is expected to grow steadily as more supply of high-quality dormitories becomes available and this sub-market reaches maturity in the mid- to long-term.

He said that after 2023, workers will be able to live in centralised labour quarters (CLQ).

“Given its long-term investment nature, it is expected to emerge as an appealing asset class for both foreign and domestic entities,” he said.

Sim believes that, with the support of a strong industrial sector, particularly the high-value manufacturing chain, centralised workers’ housing will evolve into a higher grade or quality asset class over time.

He said that this will strengthen Malaysia’s position as an Asian destination for high-value manufacturing and global services.

“Workers’ housing will gradually evolve into a subset of the larger industrial real estate ecosystem, rather than a separate asset class. Having proper and professionally managed workers’ accommodations, however, is critical to completing the industrial ecosystem and helping Malaysia compete with other regional countries in attracting flows of foreign direct investments from global industrialists,” he said.

On the challenges faced by industrialists, Sim said that when professionally managed dormitories are unexplored propositions, they turned to terraced homes, apartments, shophouses, and makeshift accommodations to house their workers haphazardly.

“In addition to a lack of awareness and accountability, most of these types of housing were overcrowded and had poor sanitation, resulting in a slew of social issues that have plagued the community for years. The perception of higher costs and non-standard guidelines in various states has also resulted in years of resistance from industry players to provide dedicated workers’ accommodations,” he said.

According to Mark Saw, executive director of Knight Frank Malaysia Penang branch, workers’ accommodation can only be built on commercial and industrial (light and medium) land in Penang.

He said that finding suitable dormitory locations is difficult because the areas surrounding established industrial parks are mostly privately owned.

“However, rising demand for such accommodations has resulted in higher asking prices for privately held land in areas such as Valdor and Permatang Tinggi, even though these lands may still be zoned “agriculture,” according to him.

Debbie Choy, director of Knight Frank Malaysia Johor branch, said that upfront planning and experience are essential in Johor when developing workers’ accommodations.

“Otherwise, it will be more difficult to accommodate additional infrastructure and space when construction is underway,” she said.

Elsewhere in Selangor, the land-use zoning for workers’ accommodation within the jurisdiction of Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam is ‘commercial’ while in areas under Majlis Perbandaran Klang, it is ‘residential’ although workers’ housing may be developed on commercial land subject to conditions imposed by the local authority.

The planning requirements in terms of development intensity such as plot ratio, minimum land area, and building height may further differ by states (and local authorities).

Rentals, yields and capital values

According to Knight Frank Malaysia research findings, which are supported by data collection of rental revenues for PBWAs across Malaysia’s major states, the analysed rental of selected PBWAs on a per bed per month basis could range from RM155 per bed per month (low end) to RM300 per bed per month (high end).

“In the short term, we anticipate an increase in both asking and achievable rents for PBWAs. This is due to existing demand, which is being fueled by regulatory compliance, outstripping existing and incoming supply,” said Keith Ooi, the firm’s deputy managing director.

Ooi also said that as the market matures, the investment yield for this asset class is expected to moderate.

According to him, this phenomenon has also been observed in the industrial asset class, where initial double-digit yields recorded in the late 1990s/early 2000s have moderated to currently range from six per cent to 6.5 per cent.

Ooi said that industrial properties are increasingly popular as investment-grade assets among institutional investors and real estate investment trusts.

Taking on the lodging nature of residential property while servicing the thriving and essential industrial sector, the segment appears to be a strategic diversification option to mitigate the impact of a downturn in the economy.

Supported by the fundamentals of the industrial sector, this expanding subset is particularly appealing to stakeholders looking for defensive sectors to capitalise and invest in, he said.

Source: NST Online