It’s been a while since we last posted the most active projects. Many people have been asking how is the property market sentiment in Penang with all the negativity around the residential overhang situation.

According to our web traffic analytics, PenangPropertyTalk.com has recorded an increase of approximately 15% in pageviews to 1.16 million for the first 4 months of 2019, up from 1.01 million in the same period a year ago. This is an indication that people’s interest in Penang property remains strong, while the huge overhang is reflecting a mismatch between the supply and demand of house price and location.

Below is a list of 20 most active projects in the first four months of 2019. As indicated, half of them are affordable housing projects.

Top in the list is the affordable housing at The Zen condominium with a whopping 33,525 pageviews in early 2019. This project is part of the mixed development by Asia Green located next to Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu Expressway. Comprising around 2,000 condominium units in two 46-storey residential towers, 1,200 units of which are categorized under affordable housing. It is almost sold out now.

This is followed by Vivo Executive Apartment which was introduced less than 2 months ago by Aspen Group at Batu Kawan. It is probably one of the lowest priced housing projects in Penang (excluding affordable housing) with an indicative price of RM238,000 onwards. The 1,400-units apartment was fully booked within 2 weeks.

The Tamarind, ranked third in the list, has always been the top 3 most active projects of the year since its introduction in 2015. This 1,104-units executive apartment by E&O Property has continued to draw active discussion as the keys are handed over to the owners this year.

Apart from Vivo Executive Apartment, MARC Residences at Jalan Song Ban Kheng is the next project in Mainland which also make it to the top 20 list. This project stands out with its dual and tri-key concept, which offers the flexibility of generating passive income.

A few popular upcoming projects to take note include Bayan Baru City Centre, Queens Island and Muze @ PICC.

* Projects are ranked based on the pageviews recorded in Google Analytic web traffic report for PenangPropertyTalk.com.

– Ken Lim
(Founder, PenangPropertyTalk.com)

The future of the 1Malaysia People’s Housing (PR1MA) depends on the outcome of its due diligence and turnaround plan, said chairman Tan Sri Eddy Chen.

“We are working on a turnaround plan. Whether PR1MA will move forward or not, much depends on this turnaround plan,” he told press at an event organised by Rehda Institute here.

“The turnaround plan is to ensure we can recover money that we paid to contractors, as much as possible, in order for us to meet all our obligations and liabilities, Chen added.

Late last month, the Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin was reported as saying that PR1MA was “cleaning up” its present “mess” — including debts and outstanding stocks — and that a due diligence report was expected to be completed within two months.

She also said that PR1MA would not be tasked with the construction of any new housing project.

PR1MA’s main problem is its substantial number of unsold units, most of which are located at less desirable areas. Chen said it has been very challenging for PR1MA, as its business model is numbers driven.

“It was given a big number to build and very little land to work with. So, a lot of them were built in locations that are questionable. The business model was wrong, in the sense that it was [based on] a master en bloc purchase agreement, which means that when we sign a contract with another party, we buy the land and we sign a contract agreement with them, but we have to pay for the whole contract, irrespective of the sales achieved,” Chen said.

He added that PR1MA practiced a build-then-sell concept, which would further exarcebate unsold properties issues, especially in the locations that are “less demanding”, in particular because market conditions turned subdued, after the project was completed.

“If you look at the amount of overhang properties, very substantial amounts come from PR1MA’s unsold units. This has become a challenge for PRIMA and we are in the process of sorting this out (overhang issue),” Chen added.

“It is a big challenge for PR1MA to meet these contracts (obligations), and we want to do our best to not default on these contracts.

“We’d like to have PR1MA successfully turn around, but it’s challenging. The turnaround plan is in place, but much depends on the take up rate for its projects,” Chen added.

To-date, PR1MA recorded 10,000 booked housing units, which is equivalent to a value of about RM2.3 billion.

Chen however noted that the sale of these booked units depend on the success of applicants’ loan approvals. He added that securing loan approvals for the Bottom 40 and Middle 40 income groups continue to be the biggest challenge, amid the current soft market condition.

PR1MA Housing Projects in Penang

Malaysia’s property sales surpass RM100 billion in first half of 2024

Malaysia’s property sector saw over RM100 billion in sales in the first half of 2024, exceeding the government’s full-year target ...

4,000 PR1MA affordable homes coming up in Penang

Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia (PR1MA) under the Local Government Development Ministry will be building some 4,000 high-rise homes in Penang over ...

Prospective buyers no longer need a payslip to apply for a PR1MA housing loan

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced yesterday that the self-employed can now apply for loans for the Perbadanan Pr1ma ...

Ideal Venice Residency

Ideal Venice Residency, the second phase of PR1MA affordable housing development by Ideal Property Group at Island Glades. Strategically located near the ...

One out of three PR1MA projects cancelled in Penang

The government, via the Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT), disbursed RM172 million as compensation for 17 cancelled 1Malaysia Housing ...

Residensi Pauh Permai

Residensi Pauh Permai, formerly known as Residensi Permatang Pauh in mainland Penang, undertaken by Excel Focus Properties Sdn. Bhd. Strategically ...

PR1MA @ Bukit Gelugor

One of the first few PR1MA affordable housing approved in Penang. This development is strategically located on Kampung Kastam land near ...

Residensi Batu Ferringhi

*PROJECT CANCELLED* (Related news) Residensi Batu Ferringhi, formerly known as PR1MA affordable housing, is strategically located along Jalan Sungai Satu ...

Source: EdgeProp.my

How other cities worldwide tackle their Airbnb problems are being studied to see if the home-sharing business could be legalised or regulated in Penang.

The office of the Penang State Exco for Tourism Development, Arts, Culture and Heritage (Petach) is studying their policies to tackle the issue of residential home owners who rent out their units as if they were running a hotel or serviced apartment.

Its exco member Yeoh Soon Hin (pic) said the global home-sharing business was quite established in Penang now that when people buy a house or condominium unit, someone might approach them and offer to guide them to sign up with Airbnb and make money from their new property.

He told the assembly that Penang Global Tourism had met with Airbnb’s management team to discuss how to regulate the business.

“Airbnb told us that they are ready to cooperate and register Airbnb units in Penang with the local authority, but we have no laws or policies for this yet,” he said.

Yeoh said in San Francisco, Airbnb operators are limited to renting their homes to a maximum of 90 days a year.

“In Catalonia, Spain, Airbnb operators can be fined up to 30,000 Euros (RM140,000) and the unit owners fined up to 90,000 Euros (RM420,000) if there are complaints.

“In Singapore, the Urban Redevelopment Authority is proposing to limit Airbnb units to only allow up to six people each time to rent them and for only up to 90 days a year.

“For strata units, Singapore plans to allow it only if at least 80% of all unit owners in the building give consent.

“Japan enacted a law to allow home-sharing of units for only up to 180 days a year,” he said when replying a question from Daniel Gooi Zi Sen (PH-Pengkalan Kota).

Gooi said he was concerned because despite strong enforcement from Penang Island City Council since 2017 to stop residential property owners from using their units commercially, the Airbnb portal lists thousands of units in Penang.

“We cannot deny property owners from benefitting from their assets, but we also cannot let them continue to operate without paying their dues such as commercial assessment rates or the hotel fee,” he said.

Yeoh said Petach was studying how Airbnb operators are regulated while waiting for the federal government to draft laws on home-sharing.

“We raised the issue and were told that the Housing and Local Government Ministry and the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry are studying possible laws on this.”

Yeoh said the business was unfair to neighbours, the hotel industry and local authorities.

“They are paying assessments and utility rates for residential units but are using those units commercially while legal hotels that comply with all laws such as safety and traffic provisions pay much more.

“The peace and privacy of their neighbours are being intruded upon,” Yeoh said.

He said his team in Petach was also considering the possibility of recommending that Airbnb operators be charged double or triple the current residential assessment rates that they are paying now after they are legalised.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Part of the highway under the Pan Island Link 1 (PIL 1) project that would pass through the City Park in George Town, Penang, will be in the form of a 250m-long cable stay bridge.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said studies had shown that such a design would have very minimal impact on the surroundings with the beams only erected outside the vicinity of the park.

He said the bridge would also help reduce the need for beams required for the section which goes through the park.

Chow was replying an oral question from Jason Ong Khan Lee (PH-Kebun Bunga) who asked if the state would reconsider the alignment at City Park under PIL 1.

“The cable stay bridge has been incorporated in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report as part of a mitigation plan to assess the impact on the environment.

“The bridge proposal had been deliberated and assessed by the Department of Environment before the conditional EIA report was approved by the department,” said Chow at the state assembly sitting on Monday.

He said the state decided on the bridge after studying different types of structure and design for the City Park section of PIL 1.

The state received the EIA approval for PIL 1 with 56 conditions early this month.

The controversial RM7.5bil highway project stretches 19.5km between Gurney Drive and the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway near the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Phase lV.

Source: TheStar.com.my

Malaysia has recorded a total of 32,313 units of unsold completed residential properties in 2018 valued at about RM19.8 billion. This is a 30.6% increase from 24,738 units recorded in 2017, according to the National Property Information Centre’s (Napic) Property Market Status Report for 2018.

The highest number of unsold completed units came from Johor with 6,066 units, a 38.6% y-o-y increase from 4,736 units in the previous year. These unsold units are worth RM4.6 billion.

Perak has the second highest number of overhang units last year with 5,367 units unsold compared with 2,276 units in 2017, worth RM1.6 billion.

Selangor registered 4,693 unsold units in 2018, up from 3,713 units. They are worth some RM4.2 billion, making it the state with the third highest number of overhang units.

Penang came in fourth with 3,502 unsold units with an estimated value of RM3 billion. However, this is a decrease of 10.57% from the 3,916 units that was recorded in the preceding year.

Following closely is Kedah with 3,311 unsold homes, worth RM889 million. The state too saw a drop from the 3,783 unsold units recorded in 2017.

Kuala Lumpur was next as the capital city saw a rather large spike in unsold properties with 2,769 units valued at RM2.7 billion from just 929 units previously.

Meanwhile, Pahang and Negeri Sembilan recorded 1,405 and 1,046 unsold units worth RM500 million and RM 610 million respectively.

Melaka has a total of 759 unsold units (worth RM268 million) while Terengganu has 402 unsold units (worth RM139 million). Kelantan and Perlis both have low numbers of unsold properties with 139 and 65 units only.

In East Malaysia, Sarawak recorded 1,412 units of unsold homes worth RM612 million while Sabah has 1,377 units of unsold homes with a value of RM579 million.

Source: EdgeProp.my