Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Chua Tee Yong expects the Malaysian housing property market to further soften this year. He sees developers focusing on the more affordably-priced homes. He is correct on both counts.

Speaking to reporters after launching the National Property Information Centre’s (Napic) 2015 Property Market Report on April 19, the deputy minister said the unsold housing stock – and by extension the country’s property overhang – could be reduced with fewer high-end homes launches.

Property overhang units must not be confused with unsold stock. The government has defined overhang units as properties that are completed and issued with Certificates of Fitness for Occupation (CFO) or Temporary Certificates of Fitness for Occupation (TCFO), but remain unsold despite having been put on the market for at least nine months.

As at end-2015, Malaysia’s housing overhang units totalled 11,316 and these were worth RM5.9 billion, up by 16.3% in volume and 56% in value from those in 2014.

It would be simplistic to assume that the higher-end homes account for most of the country’s overhang units. Or that people are no longer interested in investing in more expensive homes.

Consider this – residential property priced at RM500,000 and more accounted for less than one third of the housing property overhang in 2015. On the flipside, houses that are priced at RM300,000 or less made up half of the overhang numbers. In fact, homes priced at RM100,000 and below accounted for about 15% of the overhang. (Refer to chart).

Of the total 3,577 overhang units priced at RM500,000 and above, Johor housed 930 units, Penang (705), Selangor (512) and Kuala Lumpur (422).

Why are the cheaper homes not selling? One would have expected these to be snapped up, right?

Poor take-ups for the low- and low-medium cost homes are nothing new. They have been subjects of debate and discussion in the property fraternity for years.

Issues hampering sales would include that of inconvenient location, lack of accessibility and unsuitable design of the product. The inability to secure end-financing is another main problem.

As for the overhang of higher-priced homes, developers have pointed to the Bumiputera quota.

Land is a state matter. The Bumiputera quota varies not just from state to state, but also between zones in a state. For instance, in Melaka, the city centre has a quota of 40% while outside the city, it is 60%.

In Selangor, the quota can go up to as high as 70% while in Johor, it is 40%. In KL, it is 30%.

Bumiputera units that are unsold can be released from the quota – meaning they can be sold to non-Bumiputeras – but the process varies from state to state, entailing differing durations and payments to the respective states.

Clearly, the implementation of a structured and transparent release mechanism for all Bumiputera units would help reduce the overhang of the upper-mid and high-end homes.

There must be a will to clear the overhang units – and the answer does not lie with just reducing supply.

Source: TheEdgeProperty.com.my

For the first time in 2016, Property Stratagems is coming to beautiful Penang. We have assembled the Heavyweights in the property investment scene in Malaysia all in one place on the 23 & 24 April in Northam All Suites Penang.

These Speakers and Trainers have very busy schedules and it is not easy to get all of them together in one place at the same time to be in Penang.

They have helped many achieve their financial freedom journey and quit their 9-to-5 job. If you are looking for an alternative or options in life, don’t miss this chance to meet them in person. You could be the next to quit your job and pursue your passion, if you so desire.

The Speakers and Trainers

Michael Tan, founder of the highly successful No Money Down Strategy, also known as the Millionaire Maker, will share with you the Property Outlook for 2016 and how to get prepared for the 2016 and beyond.

Rachel Lim, known as the flipping queen, made her millions from buying and selling properties. She will be here to share with you her journey and how you too can flip your way to freedom.

Gary Chua, formerly a Senior Banker, is now a Finance Coach and have assisted many Home Buyers and Investors to creatively get more financing to continue their property journey. He has successfully mentored and helped investors multiplied their portfolio to multi-million-dollars worth in less than a year. He will be sharing some of this creative financing strategies with you.

Kaygarn Tan, fulltime Property Investor and Property Coach, have coached hundreds of have personally coached hundreds of individuals to buy properties with profitable returns and generating positive monthly cashflow. He will talk about the property market in Penang and how you can profit from the market in 2016.

Come and discover the strategies to invest in properties for year 2016 and beyond.

In every adversity there is opportunity and the Trainers will share how to identify these opportunities.

Our Gold Seats are fully sold out. Congratulations!! to those who took action.

Now, there’s only 17 Silver Seats available for grabs.

Book your seat here NOW before we sell out:

>>> http://bit.ly/edmproptalk

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As part of the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP), the Juru Interchange is expected to be upgraded into a “Diverging Diamond Interchange”. Also called a double crossover diamond interchange, is a type of diamond interchange in which the two directions of traffic on the non-expressway road cross to the opposite side on both sides of the bridge at the expressway.

The proposed upgrade will help address the severe congestion that occurs at the interchange along the North ­South Expressway and at the Jalan Kebun Nenas-Jalan Perusahaan signalised T–junction, which is only 160m west of NSE.

One of the main problems that cause congestion at the existing signalised diamond interchange is that it is operated with long cycle times during peak hours, comprising of four split phases.

During peak hours, long queues form on the approaches and the high turning movements onto the NSE also result in persistent ‘weaving’ (conflicting lane changes). Long queue times and ‘weaving’ significantly reduces the efficiency of the inter­connecting junctions at the interchange.

The proposed Juru IC improvement scheme to mitigate the current congestion essentially involves:

• Lane widening.
• Converting the Juru Interchange into a “Diverging Diamond Interchange”.
• Synchronising traffic signal timing with the Jalan Kebun Nenas-Jalan Perusahaan junction.

This is definitely a good news for those are are staying around Juru, Bukit Tengah, Bukit Minyak and Jalan Song Ban Kheng.

* Click here to find out more about Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP) *

Mahkota Promenade, an upcoming commercial development with direct frontage along Jalan Rozhan and AEON Mall. It is located right in front of Mahkota Impian Serviced Apartment, about five minutes walk from AEOM Mall and Tesco Hypermarket.

This development comprises 23 unit of 3-storey shop offices with mezzanine floor. Indicated price starts from RM2.2 million onward.

Project Name : Mahkota Promenade
Location : Alma, Bukit Mertajam, Penang
Property Type : 3-storey shop offices
Land Area: 22′ x 64′ onwards
Total Units: 23
Indicative Price: RM2,200,000 onwards
Developer : DNP Land (WingTaiAsia)

Location Map:

Commercial property transactions were down in both value and volume last year compared to the previous year.

According to the National Property Information Centre’s (Napic) 2015 Property Market Report, a total of 31,776 transactions worth RM26.4bil were recorded in the commercial property segment last year.

This was down by 10.6% in volume and 17.1% in value compared to 2014.

Penang was the only state that held strong despite fallen market activity, having registered an increase of 19% in terms of transaction value, while other major states succumbed to double-digit declines.

Selangor remained in the lead with a 23.5% market share, followed by Johor and the Federal Territory, with a 14.2% and 12.8% share.

As for the shop sub-sector, there were a total of 17,181 transactions worth RM13.31bil in 2015, making up 54.1% of the commercial property transactions.

However, the sub-sector’s volume was reduced by 14.7% and by 11.2% in value, indicating that market activity was on a downtrend.

In Kuala Lumpur, prices of shops showed mixed movements, with increases recorded in established commercial areas served with efficient road linkages.

Two-storey shops in Bangsar’s Lucky Garden fetched more than RM4mil per unit and more than RM6mil in Bangsar Baru, while others were mostly above RM1mil.

Meanwhile in Johor, prices of shops were stable with increases in selected commercial areas served with good infrastructure and road linkages.

Two-storey shops in Johor Baru experienced capital growth of between 2.6% and 15.6%, driven by better accessibility via the Eastern Dispersal Link.

Furthermore, the ground floor shops’ rental segment was largely stable with increases in selected areas.

The rental market for shops remained firm, particularly those located in prime areas such as Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman and Jalan Masjid India, which peaked as high as RM25,000 per month.

In addition, eleven shopping complexes’ transaction worth RM922.32mil was recorded during the review period, with two each in Johor and Negri Sembilan, one each in Kuala Lumpur, Malacca and Sabah, while another four were in Selangor.

Significant transactions, which include 2014 transactions with sales concluded in 2015, were the sale of The Shore in Malacca, Subang Avenue in Subang Jaya and KL Festival City.

The retail sub-sector recorded a slight improvement in occupancy from 81.8% in 2014 to 82.4% in 2015, with a take-up rate amounting to more than 8.39 million sq ft.

Higher take-up spaces were observed in Selangor, with more than 2.15 million sq ft, while Sarawak and Penang each secured more than 1.07 million sq ft.

Apart from Kelantan which recorded negative take-up rate, all other states were positive.

The performance of the three components that form a shopping complex were also commendable – hypermarkets (92.1%), shopping centres (80.8%) and arcades (75.9%).

Shopping centres accounted for 51.3% of the total shopping complexes and 72.1% of the total existing retail space in the country.

As at end-2015, there were 148.86 million sq ft of existing retail space from 932 shopping complexes.

There were a further 64 complexes with 16.25 million sq ft in the incoming supply category and 38 complexes with 11.09 million sq ft in the planned supply segment.

Selangor dominated the existing retail space, while Kuala Lumpur dominated the incoming and planned supply segments.

Source: TheStar.com.my