With eight days away from the opening of IKEA Batu Kawan, the Swedish home furnishing retailer is fueling even more excitement with a slew of in-store activities and unbeatable promotions for its opening weekends. Promising a great day out for the entire family, the retailer is inviting everyone to the highly anticipated opening of Malaysia’s fourth IKEA store!

IKEA Batu Kawan is a respond to the growing demand for more IKEA stores throughout the country. With a wide range of home furnishing inspiration and solutions, this store will soon meet the increasingly urbanised lifestyle of Penangites and northern Malaysians. In extension to that, IKEA Batu Kawan is set to present customers with a unique blend of Swedish and local heritage, from food to home furnishing solutions, store features to living spaces.

“When the clock strikes 10.00am on Thursday, 14 March, millions of customers from the northern region will finally enjoy easier access to well-designed, functional, quality and low-priced Swedish home furnishings. We can’t wait to welcome customers through our doors as we live up to our vision of creating a better everyday life for the many people,” said Pathmalingam Arumugam, Store Manager of IKEA Batu Kawan.

Fondly termed as the store for the many people, IKEA Batu Kawan alongside neighbouring developments will soon activate Aspen Vision City into a vibrant retail hotspot. As Penang’s new liveable landmark, IKEA is ready to make homes in the northern region even more comfortable with over 8,000 home furnishing products and 49 locally inspired showrooms.

Preparation is on the way as the retailer gears for an exciting and memorable opening. On 14 March, the first 10,000 customers will enjoy free goodies, in addition to the promotions and in-store activities for the entire family during the opening weeks. For more information on the promotions and in-store happenings, visit IKEA.my/BatuKawan.

With 1,950 parking bays and easy access via the Second Penang Bridge and major highways (Lebuhraya Bandar Cassia and North-South Expressway), IKEA Batu Kawan is located at 752, Persiaran Cassia Barat 8, 14110 Bandar Cassia, Penang (GPS coordinates: 5.23387 N, 100.43993 E). The store officially opens at 10am on 14 March 2019 (Thursday).

IKEA Roof Capping Event (15 Feb 2019)

The Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) has urged the government to extend the incentives offered during the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) to first-time home buyers looking to buy from the secondary market.

“MIEA is very appreciative of the fact that the Finance Ministry has introduced new programmes to stimulate the primary market by focusing on first-time home buyers, however it is critical that we should not close the door to first-time property buyers by limiting incentives to only properties offered by developers,” it said in a statement today.

MIEA said that the stamp duty exemption on instrument of transfer, which has been extended from Jan 1 to June 30 this year for properties ranging from RM300,001 to RM1 million, be made available for first-time home buyers of secondary properties.

It also urged the government to offer the stamp duty exemption on instrument of transfer for loans up to RM1 million during the same period to this category of buyers.

“There are significantly more varieties of homes at affordable prices for first-time home buyers within the secondary property market. Based on this premise, we should allow for the exemption of stamp duties to cover the purchase of homes within the secondary market by first-time buyers,” it added.

MIEA has suggested that a “Rent & Buy Programme” be set up for this category of buyers, through a special vehicle or banks to help them in two areas namely funds for a down payment and loan eligibility.

“We also request Bank Negara Malaysia to study and implement a fair and equitable loan approval and streamlined process for first time buyers and/or set up a special revolving fund to fund these buyers.

“This will allow for a shift in the dynamics of the property market, not only allowing for the disposal of ‘overhang’ properties but also unsold completed projects that are vacant,” it said.

According to the National Property Information Centre, 80% of all residential property transactions nationwide are from the secondary market while the primary market makes up the remaining 20%.

As such, MIEA said that the secondary market is the “bedrock” of the property sector, which sustains the real estate market and provides the thrust for its sustained growth.

It also urged the government to provide support to the real estate fraternity and real estate firms to modernise through technology and digitisation, and proposed that a tax exemption be given to those who are keen to invest in digitisation.

Source: Malay Mail

Penang state government will turn some of its low cost housing units into rent-to-own schemes and offer it to those who applied for people’s housing project (PPR) units.

Penang state exco Jagdeep Singh Deo said the shortage of PPR units in the state meant the administration had to look for alternative solutions.

The local government, housing development and town and country planning committee chairman said those who have been in the waiting list for PPR units for over a decade will be given priority to take up these units.

“We launched two pilot rent-to-own schemes in Jawi and it was nearly sold out so the latest two we are looking into are in Kampung Tok Subuh in Bukit Minyak and Balik Pulau,” he said.

He said the low cost housing project in Balik Pulau consisted of 1,153 units but the state planned to turn about half of it into rent-to-own schemes.

“There will be about 800 more rent-to-own units available from the projects in Bukit Minyak and Balik Pulau,” he said.

Jagdeep said Penang only has 999 PPR units while the state’s waiting list for PPR units now stand at 1,137 applicants.

He admitted that a majority of the demands were for PPR units in the north east district of the island, around George Town.

“We are working hard to have PPR and rent-to-own schemes in all districts to cater to applicants from everywhere,” he said.

He said rent-to-own schemes will benefit the applicants as it would give them a sense of ownership while at the same time, turn them into home owners.

Penang government has identified a 4-acre land in Jelutong for 1,000 units of PPR. Currently, the land still has some squatters so the state will need to relocate the squatters before they could hand over the land to the federal government to build PPR flats, he said.

When asked about the eviction of 22 tenants from Taman Manggis, a PPR housing, Jagdeep said they will still need to vacate the premises by tomorrow.

“Those who appealed against the eviction will get the decision today and if their appeal is rejected, they will have to vacate the units,” he said.

He said some tenants were found to have rented out the RM128 per month units at RM500 to RM600 to others.

“This is unacceptable and those who already bought their own homes are also ineligible,” he said.

He said it is unfair for these ineligible tenants to continue living in PPR units meant for the poor.

He said out of the 1,137 applicants on the waiting list for PPR units, 22 of them have waited for over 10 years while 271 waited for over seven years.

“How can we answer to these people who have waited so long for a PPR unit if we do not evict ineligible tenants from these units,” he asked.

He said the state housing department officers are always accompanied by police and enforcement officers from the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) when sealing the units to evict those ineligible.

Source: TheSunDaily.my

For most Malaysians, buying a house is tough. A high upfront payment coupled with a life-long mortgage commitment can be daunting, so it makes sense to take any help you can get to lower the cost of owning a home. Besides the many freebies and promotional packages that property developers are offering, the government has come up with several incentives to assist the rakyat, especially the lower income group and first-time homebuyers, such as stamp duty exemptions, deposit assistance and low-interest rate loans. Here are some of them.

Stamp duty exemptions 

• Stamp duty exemption on the instrument of transfer and loan agreement for sales and purchase executed between Jan 1, 2019 to Dec 31, 2020 for homes priced up to RM300,000
• For homes priced between RM300,001 to RM500,000, the stamp duty exemption on the instrument of transfer and loan agreement is limited to the first RM300,000 and only for SPA completed between July 1, 2019 to Dec 31, 2020
• For first-time homebuyers who are purchasing homes priced between RM300,000 to RM1 million, stamp duty is exempted on the instrument of transfer for the purchase of homes from Jan 1 to June 30, 2019
• Waiver of stamp duties on instruments of transfer for purchase of residential properties priced up to RM1 million and for loan agreements of up to RM2.5 million, that come under the six-month National Home Ownership Campaign 2019 (HOC 2019) which runs till June 2019

Youth Housing Scheme

• The scheme offers a 100% loan to single or married youths to own their first home
• Only eligible for the purchase of properties worth between RM100,000 and RM500,000
• Limited to 20,000 buyers on a “first come, first served” basis
• Monthly financial assistance of RM200 to borrowers for the first two years
• 100% stamp duty exemption on the transfer of ownership and facility documents for properties priced up to RM300,000
• Maximum financing tenure is 35 years provided the borrower’s age does not exceed 65 years at the end of the tenure
• Eligible for Malaysian citizens aged between 25 and 40 years old; first-time homebuyer with a household income of no more than RM10,000 per month

First Home Deposit Funding Scheme (MyDeposit)

• The scheme assists first-time homebuyers in paying the deposit for a home amounting to 10% of purchase price or a maximum of RM30,000 per unit for private housing and housing projects on the secondary market priced RM500,000 and below
• The house is not allowed to be sold for a period of 10 years
• The owner is not allowed to rent out the house, but use it for own stay only
• Eligible for Malaysian citizens aged 21 and above; first-time homebuyer with a household income of between RM3,000 and RM15,000 a month

Bank Negara Malaysia’s Fund For Affordable Homes

• •An RM1 billion fund established by Bank Negara (BNM) to assist first-time homeownership  among the lower income group to purchase affordable homes that are priced at RM150,000 and below in the primary market
• Maximum financing rate is 3.5% per annum
• Maximum loan tenure is 40 years or up to 70 years of the applicant’s age, whichever is shorter
• Participating financial institutions: AmBank, Bank Simpanan Nasional, CIMB Bank, Maybank and RHB Bank
• Available for two years starting Jan 2, 2019, or until the RM1 billion is fully utilised
• Eligible for Malaysian citizens with a maximum monthly household income of RM2,300; must be salaried workers or self-employed and do not have any record of impaired financing for the past 12 months

My First Home Scheme

• Allows first-time homebuyers to obtain 100% financing from a panel of banks and financial institutions, enabling them to own a home without paying a 10% down payment
• Limited to residential properties valued between RM100,000 and RM500,000
• The home must be for owner-occupation, not for any other investment purposes
• Financing tenure must not exceed 35 years subject to borrower’s age not exceeding 65 years at the end of the financing tenure
• Eligible for Malaysian citizens or employees in the private sector of up to 40 years of age; first-time homebuyer with a monthly gross income not exceeding RM5,000 if single borrower or a monthly gross income not exceeding RM10,000 if joint borrower (family only)

​Mortgage guarantee

For first-time homebuyers with a household income of up to RM5,000 per month, the government will allocate RM25 million to Cagamas Bhd to provide mortgage guarantee facility under the My First Home Scheme for loans by participating banks, which will allow eligible borrowers to obtain 100% financing or more, subject to fulfilling the scheme’s criteria.

Source: EdgeProp.my

By See Kok Loong

Lately, there are several publications such as National Property Information Centre (NAPIC) published on Jan 2019 on the data for 3Q18, the number of unsold homes in Malaysia has reached a new high of 30,115 homes amounted to RM 19.54 billion. (The above figure is the unsold homes completed 9 months from CCC and exclude residential properties build on commercial land like serviced apartment, SoHo and etc.)

Furthermore, a property consulting firm also published on February 19, 2019 that at the end of the third quarter of 2018, Malaysia’s overhang stood at 43,219 units worth RM29.47 billion, including serviced apartments and small-office home-office (SOHO) units.

All the above only represent Property Overhang and not about market supply. The above figure only covers the developer’s stock and does not cover units already sold to individuals or companies.

The real ratio that represents supply and demand situation should be Residential Vacancy Rates (RVR). Unfortunately, we don’t have the RVR in Malaysia and I believe it is timely for Napic providing the information on RVR instead of just overhang number.

RVR is the percentage of all units in the particular market that are unoccupied during a particular time. Vacancy rate is calculated by multiplying the number of vacant units by 100 and then dividing that by the total number of units in the building.

NAPIC should provide RVR by national, state, city or location basis just like other developed countries such as USA, Singapore, Australia and etc.

It will help developers, banks, property consultants, home buyers, investors to make a decision by understanding the current demand and supply situation. For RVR above 7% is considered high and it is alarming for the market to add on supply and etc.

Low vacancy rates generally mean that the real estate market performance of an area is good. They are an indication that a strong demand for rental real estate units exists. Once we have a series of data over several years, we will able to analyse the market situation better in term of demand and supply.

RVR can be obtained from utility company like TNB to provide the data on the zero usage of utility bill units base on monthly basis. Napic should compile and publish it on a quarterly basis for the public to analysis.

For a better Malaysia, we should start providing more information on a timely basis so that the stakeholders can react accordingly.

Mr. See Kok Loong, Executive Director of Metro Homes Realty Berhad and Deputy President of Malaysia Institute of Professional Estate Agents and Consultants (MIPEAC).