EcoWorld Development Group Bhd (EcoWorld Malaysia) reported robust sales growth in the third quarter ended July 31 (Q3’21), boosted by its success in converting digital leads into purchases during the MCO lockdown period.

EcoWorld Malaysia recorded RM2.873bil sales in Q3’21 and by Aug 31, sales had reached RM3.11bil.

Sales increased by more than RM1bil since Q2’21 enabling the group to surpass its full year target for FY’2021 of RM2.875bil.

President and CEO Datuk Chang Khim Wah attributed the sales outperformance to “agility in pursuing on-line leads aggressively.”

He cited the effectiveness of the group’s digitalisation initiatives (from frontline to backroom processes) which enabled systematic follow-through with potential customers and conversion of leads into sales online.

But despite the sales jump, the group’s results were impacted by the government imposed lockdown in June and July.

Chang expects construction work to pick up pace as the economy reopens.

“Now that 100% of our staff who are medically eligible for vaccination and more than 80% of site workers are fully vaccinated, all of EcoWorld Malaysia’s construction sites are able to operate at full capacity, which will enable us to catch up on work progress,” he said.

“We have also been permitted to reopen our sales galleries, and are therefore able to welcome customers to visit us once again to personally view our projects and properties, which is still an important step in the buying process for many,” he added.

“This will enable EcoWorld Malaysia to proceed with our plans for the launch of several new phases before the end of the year to build up a strong pipeline of sales for the upcoming year,” he said.

Adding overseas sales during the first ten-month up until Aug 31, the total group-wide sales has breached the RM4bil mark.

EcoWorld International Bhd reported RM338mil sales in Q3’21, and a further RM81mil in August 2021.

Source: TheStar.com.my

The property market is expected to be on the recovery path in line with the gradual economic recovery, supported by the implementation of various government initiatives and assistance, said the National Property Information Centre (NAPIC).

It said the property market performance recorded a significant increase in the first half of 2021 (1H21) compared with in the same period last year.

In the Malaysia Property Market Report for 1H21 released on Wednesday, it said a total of 139,754 transactions worth RM62.01 billion were recorded, showing an increase of 21% in volume and 32.1% in value compared with 1H20.

Volume of transactions across the sub-sectors showed upward movements, it said with residential, commercial, industrial, agriculture, and development land sub-sectors recorded year-on-year growth of 22.2%, 28.5%, 29.4%, 13.9%, and 21.3% respectively.

In terms of value of transactions, it also moved in tandem with residential, commercial, industrial, agriculture, and development land sub-sectors recording growth of 34.7%, 28.4%, 19.8%, 33.1%, and 40.6% respectively, said NAPIC.

As for residential property, it said there were 92,017 transactions worth RM34.51 billion recorded in the review period, and increased by 22.2% in volume and 34.7% in value year-on-year during when performances across the states improved in the review period.

“All states recorded higher market volumes except for Wilayah Persekutuan (WP) Putrajaya. The four major states (and federal territory), namely Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Johor and Penang formed about 50% of the total national residential volume,” it shared.

In the primary market, the report showed there were 16,660 units launched, down by 34% against 25,227 units (revised) in 1H20 while sales performances for new launches 24.7% better than in 1H20 (revised 12.9%).

“The improvement in sales performance probably attributed to various measures by the government such as incentives of the Home Ownership Campaign, reintroduced from June 1, 2020 to Dec 31, 2021 and low overnight policy rate,” it noted.

NAPIC said Selangor recorded the highest number of new launches in the country, capturing nearly 24.7% (4,114 units) of the national total with sales performance at 26.2% followed by Kuala Lumpur with 3,651 units or 21.9% with sales performance at 3.5%.

By property type, it said terraced houses dominated the new launches with single-storey units (2,624) and two- to three-storey units (5,455) together contributing to 48.5% of the total units, followed by condominium or apartment units at 41.4% (6,893).

According to the report, the residential overhang exhibited a moderated growth with a total of 31,112 overhang units worth RM20.09 billion recorded, showing an increase of 5.2% and 6.2% in volume and value respectively against the preceding half.

In terms of construction activity, NAPIC noted that it recorded an increase in completion, starts, and new planned supply, with each up by 8.7%, 35.3%, and 36% respectively compared with in the same period last year.

However, the Malaysian House Price Index (MHPI) saw an unprecedented negative growth in the second quarter of 2021 after a series of slow price growth since 2018, when it stood at 197.9 points, down by 1.2% year-on-year while on quarterly movements MHPI saw a decline of 1.6%.

For commercial property, NAPIC stated that there were 10,433 transactions worth RM10.93 billion recorded, up by 28.5% in volume and 28.4% in value compared with in the same period last year and all states and federal territories recorded more market activities in the review period except for WP Putrajaya and Pahang.

Selangor contributed the highest volume and value to the national market share, with 26.3% in volume (2,741 transactions) and 30.8% in value (RM3.37 billion), followed by Kuala Lumpur with 13% in volume (1,359 transactions) and 28.2% in value (RM3.08 billion).

The report showed the serviced apartment sub-sector recorded 1,912 transactions worth RM1.21 billion, forming 18.3% of the commercial property transaction volume and 11% of the value.

On the other hand, the serviced apartment sub-sector recorded 24,064 overhang units with a value of RM20.41 billion, indicating a marginal increase of 1.9% in volume, but value declined by 10.2% compared with in the preceding half.

Meanwhile, the unsold under construction recorded 42,358 units, increasing by 20.1%, it showed.

“The construction activities saw a mixed trend with completions decreasing by 8.3% to 4,030 units, starts increasing by 89.6% to 21,278 units, and new planned supply up by 33.7% to 7,339 units against in similar half last year,” it said.

For the purpose-built office space, it said the overall performance decreased to 78.5%, slightly lower than in 1H20 (80.6%) with the occupancy rate for private office buildings declining further to 71.7%, down from the 74.3% recorded in 1H20.

Penang secured a higher occupancy rate of 85.3% while Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, and Johor recorded lower-than-national level at 73.8%, 68.4%, and 72.75%, respectively, the report said.

“Eight new purpose-built offices with office spaces totalling 505,842 square metres were completed in the review period, extending the existing market supply to 23.84 million square metres from 2,581 buildings.

“Kuala Lumpur was the lead contributor for office space with a share of 40.7% or 9.70 million square metres in the existing market, 54% or 1.09 million square metres in incoming supply and 52.9% or 0.17 million square metres in planned supply,” it added.

Source: TheEdgeMarket.com

The Singapore-owned Hotel Royal Penang is set to shutter soon.

The 276-roomed four-star business hotel which is located along Jalan Larut is one of several hotel properties owned by Hotel Royal Limited in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

“Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the management has decided to undergo a restructuring exercise which will result in the closure of our hotel operations in Penang,” a notice of retrenchment which was sighted by the New Straits Times two days ago said.

“You are hereby served with 2-months notice effective from today (15 Sept 2021), on the termination of your employment with the company. Your last day of service with the company will be 14 Nov 2021,” it added.

The notice also stated that retrenchment benefits will be calculated in accordance with the collective agreement.

“The management is currently consolidating the benefits for all employees. Once finalised, we will issue the benefits letter to you. Payment will be made within seven days after the last day of service.

“We apologise for any inconvenience. We truly appreciate and thank you for your support,” the notice said.

It is learnt that while the hotel operations will cease for now, it will be business as usual at Penang Plaza, which is an annexe building adjacent to the hotel, belonging to the same owners.

On the company’s website, it is stated that listed on the main board of the Singapore Exchange in 1968, Hotel Royal Limited owns a total of eight hotels in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand with its latest acquisition of the 418-room Royale Chulan Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur this year (renamed Hotel Royal Bukit Bintang).

Besides the hotels in Penang, it owns another hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Hotel Royal Kuala Lumpur, and The Baba House in Melaka.

Source: NST Online

Bayu Trisha, an upcoming small landed residential development by JKP Sdn. Bhd. at Bayan Lepas, near the intersection of Jalan Bayan Lepas and Jalan Batu Maung. It is less than 3km from Penang International Airport, about 10 minutes drive to Penang Second Bridge and Free Industrial Zone. Surrounding amenities within 3km include public and international schools, markets, popular eateries, and hotel.

This development will feature only 9 units of double-storey terrace houses. Details to be available upon official launch in 2022.

The project is currently still in the planning stage.

Project Name : Bayu Trisha
Location : Bayan Lepas
Property Type : 2-storey terrace
Total Units: 9
Built-up Size: (to be confirmed)
Indicative Price: (to be confirmed)
Developer: JKP Sdn. Bhd.

DISCLAIMER: This article is solely based on research done using publicly available data. This is not an advertisement. Any claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a project or service should be verified with the developer, provider, or party in question.

The Penang State Government will resubmit the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report for the Penang South Reclamation (PSR) project to the Department of Environment (DOE), says State Infrastructure and Transport Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari.

He said the project was for the state’s economic recovery post-COVID-19, and he hoped it could be implemented for the benefit of the people.

“Apart from that, the State Executive Council which convened yesterday, has agreed to take legal action by filing a judicial review on the decision of the DOE Appeals Board, (as) it resulted in the revocation of the EIA approval for the PSR.

He said the state government took note that the decision was only based on non-compliance with the planning process, and not on substantive arguments or ‘merits of the case’.

Zairil said according to the written decision of the Appeals Board, the EIA report was found not to have met the requirements of Section 34A (4) (a) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974, because the Penang State Structure Plan 2030 (RSN2030) was not yet in force when the EIA approval was given.

He said the state government did not agree with the decision of the Appeals Board, and was of the opinion that all planning processes and procedures and necessary approvals had been complied with, including the approval of RSN2030 by the State Authority through the State Planning Committee (SPC) on March 14, 2019 and subsequent tabling to the National Physical Planning Council (NPPC) on April 18, 2019.

“Both compliances are deemed sufficient for the requirements of Section 34A (4) (a) which stipulates that the project must be in line with the ‘development plan or physical plan approved by the relevant approving authority’.

“Therefore, the approval given by the DOE director-general on June 15, 2019 does not conflict at all with the requirements of the Act,” he said.

On Sept 8, three members of the DOE Appeals Board led by Sessions Court judge Rozina Ayob set aside the EIA approval for the project. Two other members of the board are Prof Datuk Dr Mazlin Mokhtar and Associate Professor Dr Ramdzani Abdullah.

The decision was made following an appeal filed by Sungai Batu Fishermen Unit chief Zakaria Ismail, on July 29, 2019, under Section 35 (1) (e) of the Environmental Quality Act.

The PSR project covering 17 sq km involves the development of three man-made islands covering an area of 1,700 hectares in the waters off Permatang Damar Laut, near Bayan Lepas. which was introduced as a funding module of the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) worth about RM46 billion.

Source: Bernama