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:

[streetview width=”100%” height=”250px” lat=”5.288475″ lng=”100.28865599999995″ heading=”109.4737589078679″ pitch=”17.127700034030628″ zoom=”0″][/streetview]

The Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) has urged Penang state government to do away with requirement for developers to build low-cost housing.

The chairman of its Penang branch Datuk Jerry Chan argued that the state should instead focus on “rent-to-own” scheme to help lower-income home owners.

“There are recent cases where buyers could not even get bank financing for RM17,000 to buy a RM42,000 property on the island. Although the actual value of such a property on the island today is around RM160,000, the bank still refuses to lend,” Chan said.

A typical low-cost housing in Penang is priced between RM42,000 and RM75,000 a unit.

Speaking at a press conference, Chan said that in place of low-cost housing, the state government should explore the “rent to own” property scheme to help the poor.

“Under this scheme, tenants would eventually get to own the property after paying rentals for a certain number of years. These ‘rent to own’ properties should be undertaken by the state government,” he said.

On affordable housing projects priced between RM200,000 and RM400,000, Chan said the present list of first-time home buyers drawn up by the state government was not reliable.

“The state government’s list does not take into account whether the applicants are eligible for bank loans.

“The state government should allow the developers to draw the list of first-time house buyers for their projects, as the developers would take the time to check on the applicant’s eligibility for bank loans before allowing them to apply for an affordable house,” he said.

Chan said there should also be a timeframe for the implementation of affordable housing projects.

“As the price of land in Penang keeps on escalating, it will not be possible in the near future for developers to continue building affordable houses. There are also other compliance fees which make such schemes difficult to implement,” he added.

On housing prices in Penang, Chan said the price of residential properties in Penang had not plunged due to slowdown in the property market.

“The old high-rise properties in Bayan Baru, for example, are still selling between RM395,000 and RM478,000 nowadays. These properties, built in the early 1990s in the south-west district, were first priced at around RM70,000 to RM80,000.

“Despite the soft property market, we are not seeing any correction in housing prices,” he said.

Chan said that based on market feedback, Singaporeans were now coming in to buy properties in Penang to take advantage of the weak ringgit, providing support for the local property market.

On the delays in issuing advertising permits and developers’ licence (APDL), he said there were currently about 50 projects, involving 20 to 30 developers, which still had not received APDL from the federal government.

Source: TheStar.com.my

If you ever wonder how well are the affordable housings doing in Penang, take a few minutes going through the chart below. These are the top 20 most active projects in Penang, based on the total number of project page views we have received in October 2015.

With the introduction of new measures by the state government to ease affordable housing application and development, a significant increase of interest and activities in the affordable segment is observed. This is particularly evident in the Island where almost all of the affordable housings that are currently open for registration are in the top 20 list.

* Full list of affordable housing in Penang *

On the flip side, the environment has become one of the key challenges for condominiums in the mainland, especially for those units selling in the same price range as the affordable housing in the island. With an increasing supply of affordable housing in the pipeline, the situation is expected to continue over the medium term.

For developers in the mainland, the promotion designed to stimulate the demand needs to be changed and the choice of marketing strategy to establish a differential advantage has to be made.

Just for the record, Eco Meadows is the only project in the mainland that managed to squeeze itself into the top 20 list last month with the aggressive promotion by EcoWorld. This is a gated and guarded development situated on a 75.7-arce land in Simpang Ampat. The initial phase of Eco Meadows comprises 375 units of 2-storey terrace houses and a 2-storey resident clubhouse.

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

PENANG RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY MARKET

In Penang, the residential property market contracted by almost half since the hitting its peak in 2011. The market recorded a total of 9,667 transactions in 4Q2011, its highest in four years, before seeing a drastic drop of about 48.47% in 1Q2012, to just 4,981 transactions. The corresponding value of transactions dropped to RM1.5 billion in 1Q2012, from RM2.27 billion in 4Q2011.

The market saw fluctuations in 2012. In 2Q2012, the number of transactions increased by about 38.68% to 6,908 valued at RM1.92 billion before dropping slightly to 6,398 in 3Q2012. The market plunged again in 4Q2012 by 22.17%, to 4,979 transactions.

The market continued to contract in 1Q2013, when the number of transactions dropped slightly to 4,193 (worth RM1.55 billion) but remained stable with slight increases throughout the next three quarters of the year, bringing the total transactions to 17,700 units (RM7.1 billion).

In 2014, the pattern of transactions was interesting. It dropped slightly by about 8.66% to 4,291 transactions in 1Q2014 from 4,598 transactions in 4Q2013, before increasing by about 10.27% to 4,732 in 2Q2014, valued at RM1.89 billion. By 3Q2014, the number of transactions had dropped to 4,194 (RM1.75 billion), before surging 23.82% to 5,193 transactions (RM2.06 billion) in 4Q2014.

By 1Q2015, the market had plunged again by about 26.17% to 3,834 transactions (RM1.55 billion) compared with 4Q2014. A year-on-year (y-o-y) comparison with 1Q2014 also saw a market contraction of about 10.65%.

In 2Q2015, the market improved slightly on the previous quarter, to 3,909 transactions (RM1.59 billion). However, in a y-o-y comparison with 2Q2014, the market contracted by 17.39% or 823 transactions.

Geh believes the market contraction in Penang could also be due to strict loan approval criteria and fewer loan approvals.

He adds that the long delay in the issuance of the advertising permit and developers licence (APDL) had also taken a toll on the Penang residential property market.

“I believe the demand for projects in the pipeline in Penang is good but the sales process cannot commence due to the delay in the APDL,” he says.

Developers must obtain the APDL from the Housing Ministry before the sale process and the signing of the sales and purchase agreement for any development project.

The issuance of the APDL in Penang for many projects by local developers has been delayed for more than a year.

MALAYSIA: OVERALL RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY MARKET

There was an overall contraction of the Malaysian residential property market in the first half of this year (1Q2015) compared with 1Q2014, according to figures released by the National Property Information Centre (Napic).

The first half of 2014 (1H2014) recorded a total 122,830 transactions in the market worth a total RM40.31 billion. In comparison, 1H2015 recorded 119,599 transactions with a value of RM37.97 billion, or a 2.63% contraction.

If we look at the quarterly comparison, the 1Q2015 saw a slight increase of about 1.46% to 59,626 transactions (RM18.74 billion), from 58,767 transactions (RM19.39 billion) in 1Q2014 .

By 2Q2015, there is a noticeable contraction of 6.38% to 59,973 transactions, from 64,063 transactions in 2Q2014. Over the years, it is normal for the number of transactions to increase from the first to the second quarter, as seen in 2014 (from 58,767 to 64,063, worth RM20.92 billion).

Looking at transaction history, the first quarter of every year usually sees a slight drop before the transactions spike in the second quarter. The residential property market in Malaysia hit its peak in 2Q2011, when transactions spiked to a high of 73,710 (RM16.68 billion) from 60,333 (RM13.52 billion) previously. Similarly, 1Q2012 saw a total of 64,402 transactions (RM15.13 billion), which spiked in 2Q2012 to 71,595 transactions (RM17.48 billion).

After the market hit its peak period between 2011 and 2012, it began to drop in 2013 and reached a four-year, all-time low in 1Q2014. The market picked up in 2Q2014 and 3Q2014 by recording 64,063 transactions (worth RM20.92 billion) and 63,661 transactions (RM21.66 billion), respectively.

By 4Q2014, the market had again dropped, to 60,760 transactions (RM20.09 billion) and continued to drop in 1Q2015 before increasing slightly in 2Q2015.

In summary, the overall residential property market in Malaysia in the last four years up to the first half of this year saw the market spiking in 2011 and 2012 before it contracted in 2013. While picking up slightly in 2014, it again showed a contraction in the first half of this year.

Raine & Horne International Zaki + Partners Sdn Bhd senior partner, Michael Geh, attributes the overall contraction in the market to strict loan requirements.

“The low loan approvals due to stricter loan requirements has taken a toll on the property market,” he says.

Source: TheEdgeProperty.com

Ewein Bhd, which is currently jointly developing the RM800 million City of Dreams condominium project in Bandar Tanjong Pinang, Penang with Consortium Zenith BUCG Sdn Bhd (CZBUCG), is set to bag its second project on the island by the end of the year.

“Right now, we are finalising and fine-tuning the [contract] terms [to develop] the next parcel of land [in Bandar Tanjong Pinang] with CZBUCG, and hope to make an announcement by year end,” its deputy chairman and group managing director Datuk Ewe Swee Kheng told The Edge Financial Daily in an interview last week.

In June, it incorporated a new 60%-owned subsidiary, Ewein Zenith II Sdn Bhd, in anticipation of winning the contract. The remaining 40% stake in Ewein Zenith II will be held by CZBUCG.

Ewe said Ewein is proposing to develop three blocks of luxury serviced apartments on the 4.4252-acre (1.79ha) piece of freehold land, which will have a gross development value (GDV) of RM1 billion.

To be called City of Dreams II, the serviced apartments will comprise 891 units, but with smaller built-ups than that of City of Dreams, he said.

“Nevertheless, this is subject to the finalisation of the second parcel of land,” said Ewe.

Meanwhile, Ewein will start to see contributions from the City of Dreams project to its profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2015 (3QFY15), based on its 60% share of the joint venture with CZBUCG, which owns the remaining 40%. It is due to announce the results of the quarter in the second week of this month.

“We have started progress billing for road and drainage works serving the project. We expect the project to gain momentum from 4QFY15,” said Ewe.

“The development is expected to contribute RM200 million in profit before tax and minority interests over the next four years,” he said.

Ewein saw its 2QFY15 net profit jump 88.1% to RM521,000 from RM277,000 in 2QFY14. Revenue, however, fell by a marginal 1.48% to RM10.55 million from RM10.71 million a year ago.

Ewe said the group had received overwhelming responses to the City of Dreams condominium project, receiving 1,203 applications for the 572 units available.

“We are in the progress of qualifying these applications, and hopefully will be able to sign some of the SPAs (sale and purchase agreements) by the end of this year,” he added.

City of Dreams features two blocks of 40-storey towers housing a total of 572 condominium units, with built-ups ranging from 1,100 sq ft to 2,350 sq ft.

Sitting on a 3.67-acre piece of freehold land, the seafront units are priced from RM1,172 per sq ft (psf), which is relatively lower than Eastern & Oriental Bhd’s high-end condominiums in Seri Tanjung Pinang nearby, which are going for RM1,800 psf.

City of Dreams and City of Dreams II are part of a proposed development measuring 50 acres to be known as Wellness City of Dreams, which will have a GDV of RM13.89 billion. The proposed project is expected to comprise, among others, a wellness resort, retirement and nursing residential suites, and serviced apartments.

While property development will contribute “significantly” to the group’s pre-tax profit from FY16, Ewe said the group had no intentions of ending its manufacturing of precision sheet metal fabricated parts business.

“We can still remain profitable in the manufacturing segment. While profit growth rates may be flat, but in times like these (lower demand from the electronics and electrical sector), I think we are considered good to be able to remain profitable,” he remarked.

On its property investment business, Ewe said rental income from Menara IJM Land in Penang provides the group recurring income on an annual basis. The group acquired the property in 2011 for RM50 million.

Ewe said contributions from this segment are expected to increase in the coming years from a revision of rental rates.

Year to date, Ewein’s (fundamental: 0.95; valuation: 1.4) share price has risen 109.78% to close at 96.5 sen last Friday, up 7.5 sen or 8.43% higher from the previous day’s closing. Its market capitalisation stood at RM186.68 million.

Source: TheEdgeMarkets.com