Buying your first home is never an easy decision. Not only it is most people’s biggest financial commitment, it can also be time-consuming and frustrating.

One of the most common question asked by first time home buyer is when will be the best time to buy a property in Penang. There is always the right time, but no best time. The right time is the time when you can comfortably afford a unit that suite your lifestyle.

In fact, owning a first home is a very rewarding experience and you can make the process smoother by having the right information at your fingertips. If you are not sure where to start with, here are the three aspects that you need to contemplate before placing your down-payment:

1. Ponder over a realistic lifestyle

The very first thing you should do is to ponder over a realistic lifestyle that you would envision. How you would like to live day-to-day, your plans for the short-term future and your budget will determine the home you buy.

Is it important that you live close to family, work, schools, shopping mall and other amenities? Consider how far you are prepared to live from those places if there is good accessibility. In some cases, one may choose to stay further away from work in seek of better lifestyle for his/her family.

Remember, not necessary an ideal lifestyle that can last for two to three decades, neither is the best one. Think about a realistic one that will works for you in the next 10 years.

2. Know your affordability

Before you start focusing on where and which house to buy, work out your budget first. One of the most common conscious mistake people made is to first look for a dream house, setting an unrealistic expectation and then blame it to the unaffordability. As our young nation continues to evolve and grow, housing affordability issue is inevitable. But continues blaming the house prices will not make your life better.

So, work out your affordability, figure out your existing expenses, estimate your potential loan repayments and associated costs. Look realistically at whether your income can cover it all comfortably. Once you know how much your budget is, then you can start looking for a house within your budget that suite the lifestyle. In some cases, some fundamentals may have to be sacrificed.

3. Perform your own research, don’t rush

Deciding and placing a down-payment for your very first home is definitely very exciting. Many people tend to get overjoyed and rush to make a decision. This is usually influenced by friends and colleagues who have also bought a unit from the same project.

Bear in mind that everyone has different needs. A house that suites your friends and colleagues may not necessary suites you. It’s always good for you to perform your own research, a least do some study on the surrounding area.

Penang is fortunate to have plenty of affordable housing to choose from, and there are more to come in 2016. The attractive element is that the price will stay below RM400,000 and you don’t have to worry about price going up soon. Hence, take time to perform some research, you may be able to find some good units from the secondary market too.

– Ken Lim
(Founder and Principal Reviewer, PenangPropertyTalk.com)

The Penang government and Bank Negara will hold a workshop early next month to discuss the state housing policy following a fruitful meeting between the two parties.

State Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said that during the meeting recently, Bank Negara had shared the criteria to be considered when it processed housing loans.

“We will discuss the requirements of the applicants for low-cost, low medium-cost and affordable housing with Bank Negara.

“Our intention is to find solutions to narrow the gap between the total housing loan applicants and the loan rejection rate.

He said there was a need for prudent debt management.

Jagdeep added that the workshop would also discuss in detail the process by the commercial banks when considering a housing loan.

Source: TheStar.com.my

After a delay of almost four years, land reclamation works on the RM10 billion Penang WorldCity mixed development in Bayan Mutiara, Penang may finally be moving forward. The joint venture (JV) between Ivory Properties Group Bhd and Tropicana Corp Bhd plans to call for tenders for the reclamation works at Penang WorldCity by the end of this year or the first quarter of 2016.

Ivory Properties chief operating officer Goh Chin Eng said Tropicana Ivory Sdn Bhd will kick-start the tender process in a matter of months, which was postponed twice after having problems getting approvals from the local authorities within the stipulated time which were prerequisites for the tender.

Tropicana Ivory is a 51:49 JV between Ivory Properties and Tropicana.

Goh said yesterday approvals from the relevant departments including the department of environment to undertake the reclamation works have been received.“We called off the tenders twice after the six-month contract lapsed, but now we have gotten all the necessary approvals and can finally call for a tender,” he told The Edge Financial Daily in an interview.

Ivory Properties in November 2011 signed a purchase and development agreement with Chief Minister of Penang (Inc) and Penang Development Corp for the proposed development of a mixed residential and commercial property project on a 41.5ha site in Bayan Mutiara for RM1.07 billion. Of the 41.5ha, 27.3ha are existing land and 14.2ha are to be reclaimed

“We are finalising some technical issues and would call for a tender to select a contractor by year end or the first quarter of 2016. We believe the potential contractors, who had expressed their interest in the project earlier including foreign companies, would resubmit their bids,” said Goh.

“We target to begin works to reclaim 14.2ha of land [in Penang WorldCity] in the second quarter of 2016. We plan to build a hotel, hospitals, schools and residential units on the reclaimed land,” he added.

The Penang WorldCity project is expected to give a massive boost to Ivory Properties’ revenue in eight years, Goh said, contributing some RM5 billion to RM6 billion towards the group’s overall sales then. The Penang-based property developer on Oct 3, 2014 changed its financial year end from Dec 31 to March 31. Due to the year end change, the cumulative quarters for the current financial year consist of 15 months’ results beginning Jan 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015, which saw Ivory Properties posting a net profit of RM22.77 million on revenue of RM270.19 million.

Already, Ivory Properties has seen contributions coming from the Penang WorldCity project. The group has launched the first phase of condominium units in the Penang WorldCity project, and plans to release the second phase of homes by the end of next year. These properties are located on the existing 27.3ha of land in Bayan Mutiara.

Goh said construction of phase 1A, comprising 1,343 condominium units priced from RM450,000, is 30% complete.

For its first financial quarter ended June 30, 2015 (1QFY16), Ivory Properties saw its net profit drop 22.3% to RM8.1 million from RM10.42 million in 1QFY15 as revenue slid 16.5% to RM47.42 million from RM56.76 million. In its notes in the quarterly results, Ivory Properties said the 1QFY16 revenue from its construction contracts segment was mainly contributed by the construction claim on phase 1A of Penang WorldCity, where the construction work progressed towards the end of last year.

On its gearing level which stood at a 12-month rolling average of 61%, Goh said Ivory Properties aims to reduce reliance on institutional financing in the long run and to focus on its sales and marketing activities from its ongoing Penang Times Square project in George Town, Penang.

The group had unbilled sales of RM492.9 million as at July 31, which will keep it busy for the next three to five years. It also carries a tender book of about RM500 million. Ivory Properties currently owns 120 acres (48.6ha) of land bank, all located on the island, with a combined gross development value of RM11.12 billion.

“The land bank will sustain us for another eight to 10 years. We continue to look for more land in Penang and the Klang Valley. We are now negotiating with some landowners in Kuala Lumpur and will make the necessary announcement in due time,” said Goh.

Meanwhile, Goh sees Penang’s property market recovering next year, boosted by the RM27 billion Penang transport master plan. “Due to land scarcity in Penang, I believe that the market will consolidate now and pick up in 2016 as the transport master plan kicks in. Penang is still an attractive and interesting location preferred by investors and foreigners,” he said.

Ivory Properties shares closed up 6.58% or three sen higher to 41 sen on Friday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM180.44 million.

Source: TheEdgeMarkets.com

The Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce (PCCC) says it is willing to build the proposed new category of affordable housing units if the state government gives sufficient incentives.

Datuk Finn Choong Khuat Seng, convenor of the chamber’s Property Development Construction and Management Committee (PDCMC), said the committee lauds the recent revision by the state government of the guidelines for affordable housing, particularly the introduction of the RM150,000 home category.

“PDCMC fully supports this new category of housing as this comes with the allowance to increase the density.

“This move serves to protect the interests of the lower income group as the existing allocation for housing of RM200,000 and below has now effectively increased,” he told reporters here Saturday.

He said both the state government and housing developers must at all times work closely hand in hand to meet the state’s housing needs and to enable the property industry to contribute to the state’s growth, he added.

Choong, who is also PCCC Vice President, said in order to be able to provide more low cost (LC) and low middle cost (LMC) units, the state government should increase the permitted development density for LMC units from the current 120 units/acre.

“We also urge the state government to reduce the time taken to approve eligible purchasers and to reduce the requirements for common facilities and car parks.

“The responsibility to ensure these units end up with the correct social group should fall on the state government,” he said.

Source: Bernama

Areca @ Penang, an upcoming mixed development by Titijaya Group in Batu Maung, Penang. It is strategically located next to Penang second bridge. This is the Group first’s acquisition and development outside of Klang Valley, with an estimated GDV of RM2.6 billion.

The 20.3 arce parcel of land will be developed in multiple phases, and is expected to be completed by 2023. This development consists of the following components:

Residential

• 25-storey condominium (299 units)
• 33-storey condominium (575 units)
• 37-storey condominium (503 units)
• 37-storey condominium (359 units)

Commercial

• 3 blocks of 36-storey serviced suites
• 1 block of 27-storey serviced suites
• 1 block of 5-storey shop offices
• Multiple level of shop offices (92 units)

More details to be available upon project launch.

Project Name : Acera @ Penang
Location : Batu Maung, Penang
Property Type : Mixed development
Built-up Area: 750 sq.ft. – 1,100 sq. ft.
Developer : Titijaya Group

Location Map:

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