The outlook for Malaysia’s industrial property market is looking favorable as it is expected to see more inquiries, especially from manufacturers, said independent property consultancy firm, Knight Frank Malaysia.

Its Capital Markets executive director Allan Sim said manufacturers would be looking to take advantage of the tax incentives, adding that the industrial real estate market has remained resilient in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We also foresee more international e-commerce operators considering Malaysia as an important regional distribution hub within their network,” he said in a statement in conjunction with Knight Frank Malaysia latest research report, Real Estate Highlights — First Half of 2020.

Additionally, the firm said the Malaysian government’s move to provide generous tax incentives for foreign manufacturers under the National Economic Recovery Plan would help to position the country as a strong contender in attracting more overseas manufacturing operations to its shores.

“This is timely given the ongoing major restructuring of global supply chains arising from the aftermath of the pandemic, as well as the ongoing United States-China trade war,” it said.

Meanwhile, on the residential market segment, Knight Frank Malaysia managing director Sarkunan Subramaniam said he expected to see a slow uptick post-movement control order (MCO), backed by the government’s various stimulus, particularly the reintroduction of the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC).

“Moving forward, developers may also reconsider their product positioning and marketing strategies, including leveraging technologies and partnering with e-commerce platforms to improve their sales,” he said.

The full Real Estate Highlights — First Half of 2020 report is available at https://bit.ly/REH1H2020.

Source: Bernama

A newly proposed high-rise commercial development by Serendipity Capital Berhad in the heart of George Town. Strategically located along Lebuh Noordin, adjacent to M Summit 191 serviced residence by M Summit Group and Cititel Express Hotel. It is only a short walk to KOMTAR and GAMA Departmental Store.

This development will see the demolition of existing buildings behind the shot lots at Lebuh Noordin, for the construction of a 28-storey commercial building. It will feature 69 units of resort suites with rooftop facilities, and some commercial spaces located at lower levels.

The project is still pending for approval. It is not known whether this will be opened for sale. More details to be available upon official launch.

Property Project : (to be confirmed)
Location : George Town
Property Type : Commercial
Tenure : (to be confirmed)
Land Area: (to be confirmed)
Built-up Area: (to be confirmed)
Total Units : 69 (suites)
Indicative Price: (to be confirmed)
Developer : Serendipity Capital Berhad

Location Map:

About Suasana @ Utropolis

The second phase of Utropolis development by Paramount Property in Batu Kawan, Penang. Strategically located on a 3-acres freehold land next to the UOW Malaysia KDU university college, about 5 minutes walk to Design Village outlet mall.

Find out more about Utropolis @ Batu Kawan:

• Phase 1 – Sensasi Commercial & Residential Suites (Completed)
• Phase 2 – Suasana Residential Suites (On-going)
• Phase 3 – Sinaran Avenue & Sinaran Residences (New launch)

According to the latest property market transaction data for 2019 to Q1 2020 by the National Property Information Centre (NAPIC), overall overhang properties recorded in Q1 2020 showed that there are a total of 29,698 overhang units, amounting to a total value of RM18.91 billion. From that number, 35% of all overhang units or 10,401 units are in the RM300,001 to RM600,000 price range. More than half of the overhang are condominium/apartment type, making up 54.7% with 16,241 units.

Johor recorded a total number of 6,057 units, of which 1,974 were condominium units or apartments and 2,160 were two to three-storey terrace houses.

Perak emerged as having the second-highest overhang with a total of 4,919 units with 16.6%, followed by Selangor with a total of 4,844 units or 16.3%.

The report also revealed that the next highest was Penang accounting for 10.2% with 3,043 overhang units, and Kuala Lumpur at 8.7% with 2,584 units. Sarawak makes up 6.6% with 1,966 units and Pahang has 5.1% at 1,510 units.

The remaining states that make up less than 5% respectively and in descending order are Sabah (4.8%), Kedah (4.7%), Negeri Sembilan (3.7%), Melaka (2.3%) and Terengganu (1.7%).

The states that account for less than 1% each are Kelantan (0.5%), and Perlis (0.1%). The only place with zero overhang units is Putrajaya.

NAPIC property market division deputy director Tee Siew Bee said the overall property market was slowing down this year due to a mismatch in demand and supply for certain states/districts/ locations, types and prices.

“The residential overhang situation has continued to improve, but remains a major concern. There are fewer new launches that might help to reduce the number of overhang and unsold units,” she said during the Real Estate & Housing Developers’ Association’s (Rehda) event entitled “Selling a property successfully in the new decade – is big data & proptech the ultimate solution?”

Rehda’s event highlighted how property developers can move forward in boosting their property sales, whilst easing the process of home ownership in these tough times by embracing Big Data and PropTech.

Source: FreeMalaysiaToday.com

Hong Leong Investment Bank Research (HLIB) is not discounting the possibility that Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) will cut the overnight policy rate (OPR) by another 25 basis points (bps) to 1.50% by as early as its next Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in September.

The central bank yesterday announced it had cut the OPR by 25bps to 1.75% to provide additional policy stimulus to accelerate the pace of economic recovery, and will continue to assess evolving conditions and utilise its policy levers as appropriate to create enabling conditions for a sustainable economic recovery.

“Consequently, as economic activity is expected to remain weak and inflation prospects modest, we think it’s possible for BNM to reduce the OPR by another 25bps as early as its September MPC meeting to bring it to 1.50%.” the research house concluded.

The 1.75% OPR is the lowest since the floor was set 16 years ago. Yesterday, BNM made its fourth rate cut this year, with a cumulative 125bps slashed so far.

HLIB said while it had expected a 25bps cut in the second half of 2020 (2H20), the timing of the reduction was earlier than expected.

“Despite expectations of gradual improvement in Malaysia’s growth prospects, the pace and strength of the recovery remain subject to downside risks emanating from domestic and external factors,” it said.

HLIB added that policy measures implemented domestically to mitigate the negative impact of Covid-19 will lapse in October, putting downside risks on the economy, while sluggish and uncertain growth could lead to further job losses and deter investment.

“Globally, countries that opened their economies had to reimpose lockdowns in certain areas as the rate of infection rose. This will lead to downward pressure on global demand and supply conditions, limiting the strength of global recovery,” HLIB said.

The MPC expected inflation to be muted in 2020, with average headline inflation likely to be negative for the year as global oil prices are projected to be substantially lower.

The risk of a broad-based and persistent decline in prices is assessed by the MPC to be limited, but inflation will be ultimately dependent on global oil and commodity prices.

Source: EdgeProp.my