In spite of the Covid-19 pandemic and a partial lockdown reintroduced from Jan 13, the outlook of the property sector will remain largely stable for the first half of 2021, according to Raine & Horne International Zaki + Partners Sdn Bhd senior partner Michael Geh.

Geh believes that the ‘transactional activities’ in the first half of this year would remain ‘brisk’.

To strengthen his view, he elaborated on a few reasons.

“The ‘brisk’ transactional activities in both primary and secondary markets are due to several factors. They include the high-cost savings in exempted payments during the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC), financial institutions’ strong support for the housing loans, especially for first-time home buyers, and low interest rates for mortgages and fixed deposits.

“Besides that, Penang’s overall property transactions have seen a V-curve rebound from 2,102 transactions worth RM1.54 billion in Q2 of 2020 to 4,685 transactions worth RM2.16 billion in Q3 of 2020.

“The rebound was very high, which clearly reflected the confidence of Penangites in the property market.

“The number of transactions has increased to pre Covid-19 level and the overall property transactions are even higher compared to each quarter of 2018 and 2019.

“The achievement was made possible, thanks to various housing policies being implemented such as HOC, waiver of real property gains tax (RPGT) and other measures, ” Geh, who is also the Chartered Valuation Surveyor, told Buletin Mutiara.

The immediate past president of the International Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) also noted that many property owners took the opportunity to transfer their properties to their children or relatives.

Apart from that, Geh said the residential properties in Penang rebounded to almost the same transactions in the last quarter of 2019 by recording 3,446 transactions worth RM1.3 billion in Q3, which was more than double that of 1,545 transactions worth RM620 million in Q2.

The number of commercial properties transacted in Q3 has also increased but the value has dropped.

A total of 223 units worth RM480 million were transacted in Q2 while a total 379 units were transacted in Q3 but it was only valued at RM300 million.

Geh also commended the Penang government for providing ample affordable housing units to Penangites.

On the Penang House Price Index reaching a plateau since 2013, Geh attributed it to the state’s push for affordability units.

Source: Buletin Mutiara

About The Stone

An affordable housing development by PLB Land in Paya Terubong, Penang. It is located immediately opposite Majestic Heights, only 1km away from EcoTerrace condominium by EcoWorld. Featuring 1,000 units of affordable houses.

(Photo source: Facebook)

Find out more about The Stone

Bintai Kinden Corporation Bhd has proposed to diversify into the property development and management business to reduce its reliance on the mechanical and electrical engineering business. Under the proposal, the company will undertake two mixed property development and management projects, namely “Holistica Melaka” and “Holistica Penang” with healthcare facilities and wellness services in Melaka and Penang.

Holistica Penang, with an estimated GDV of RM83.7 million is a lifestyle condotel development project in the heart of George Town. It is strategically located on a 0.6-acre land along Burma Road, adjacent to The Penang Chinese Chin Woo Athletic Accociation.

The proposed project will feature a 21-storey building with 98 condotel (condominium operated with hotel services) units.

Project Name : Holistica Penang
Location : George Town
Property Type : Hotel residence
Total Units : 98
Developer : Bintai Kinden Corporation Bhd

Location Map:

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.

A law to stop landowners from evicting tenants or raising rentals indiscriminately will be tabled next year, says housing and local government minister Zuraida Kamaruddin.

She said the Residential Tenancy Act, which will also seek to protect the rights of landowners, is expected to be tabled in Parliament in the first quarter of 2022.

She said the Act, which was originally slated to be tabled this year, will take into account the interests of both landowners and tenants while ensuring that owners do not raise rental rates or evict tenants at their whims and fancies.

“The Residential Tenancy Act is now at the preparatory stage. This Act will offer protection to tenants,” she told FMT.

This follows an FMT report highlighting the plight of young workers living in “storeroom-like” conditions in the Klang Valley as a result of high rental rates.

Salkukhairi Abd Sukor, president of Persatuan Guaman Hartanah Malaysia, had urged Putrajaya to speed up the introduction of the Act to prevent landlords from imposing unreasonable rates.

In August last year, Zuraida’s deputy, Ismail Muttalib, said the government was expected to table the much-anticipated Act this year.

Source: FreeMalaysiaToday.com

Penang’s Butterworth port will be turned into a free trade zone (FTZ) from Feb 1, federal port regulators Penang Port Commission (PPC) announced today.

PPC chairman Tan Teik Cheng said finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz had consented to gazette the North Butterworth Container Terminal as a FTZ.

Tan said this would elevate Penang to the next level as more global players can head to Butterworth to reap the benefits of the FTZ.

“With the help and push of transport minister Wee Ka Siong and the finance minister, Penang’s glorious free trade era is set to come back,” he said.

Tan said the FTZ would have two sections, one being for trade and commercial purpose, while the other would be set aside for factories.

“Since the FTZ would have commercial facilities such as logistics service and warehousing, we expect more break bulking, grading, repackaging, relabelling, transit and re-exporting works to be carried out by players from around the world.”

Tan said the significance of having a free port was that more foreign investors would be able to tap into the duty-free market.

“Foreign companies can use the facilities at the FTZ and later re-export to another country. Since they are exempted from Customs and excise duties, sales tax or service tax, except for a few products and services, they can expect the exported items at a cheaper rate,” he said.

Tan said PPC would now focus on attracting more foreign investors to Penang. Penang was a free port until 1967 when the status was removed.

Source: FreeMalaysiaToday.com