A coastal ferry ­service with multiple terminals to shuttle people and cars from one point on the island to another may become a reality by the next decade.

This follows the willingness of the Penang Port Commission (PPC) to hand over ferry services to the state government.

Sources in the state government said the idea cropped up last year during the development of the Penang Transport Master Plan.

“The plan is to build terminals for ferries to shuttle between Butterworth, George Town, Gurney Drive, Gelugor and Bayan Mutiara near Queensbay Mall,” the source said.

Another source within the Penang Transport Council said such an idea was “beautiful as it would be easy to do”.

“We won’t have to build roads, just terminals and then use the surrounding sea. It will be cheaper compared to building more roads on the island.”

The source said the plan included high-speed passengers-only ferries and also ferries that would transport cars, motorcycles and bicycles.

“Not everyone will be willing to be only pedestrians. If they are not in a rush, they can drive into ferries from one side of the island and take a slow ride to the other side. This will play a great role in reducing island traffic.”

The source added that such a ferry service was contained in Level Four of the transport master plan, which was projected to cost RM11.7bil.

In welcoming PPC’s willingness to hand over the ferry services, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had asked for permits for purchases of 30 additional ferries to go with the deal.

He said the coastal ferry service plan would be explored in greater detail if the ferry service was handed over to the state.

“To make the service viable, we must have a scale. That is why we ask to operate 30 ferries. If we have too few, then it won’t be viable.”

Meanwhile, Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) chairman and chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Sidik Shaik Osman said the idea was good if there was a demand for such a mode of public transportation.

“However, under present circumstances where the fare is regulated and kept at the very minimum, I’m not sure if it will make economic sense. It will only be viable if the operator is given government assistance or subsidies, or given the opportunity to set their own fare and rates.”

Mohd Sidik also noted that from Penang Port’s experience, the waters around the island could be choppy at certain times of the year and safety was of paramount importance.

PPSB is the current owner and operator of Penang’s ferries.

Source: TheStar.com.my

As usual, half of the top 10 list are dominated by affordable housing projects with Ramah Pavilion being the most active one in April. Obviously, it’s very happening at Ramah Ravilion. Many buyers have already received their offer and some started to apply for loan.

1. Ramah Pavilion
2. The Tamarind
3. One Foresta
4. Vertiq
5. Edge 360
6. The Rise (Chelliah Park City)
7. TRI Pinnacle
8. Affordable @ The Clovers
9. Urban Suites
10. The Clovers

Surprisingly, The Rise (formerly known as Chelliah Park City) and Tri Pinnacle affordable housing projects seem significantly quieter than before. Recorded 50% less traffic in April as compared to March.

OC has just been issued for IJM’s The Vertiq in April. That explained why the project is very active recently.

Edge 360 is a newly launched project located at Bukit Dumbar, just a mere minutes drive from Tesco hypermarket.

Stay tuned for the next statistics in first week of June.

* Projects are ranked based on the actual number of clicks & views in Google Analytic web traffic report for PenangPropertyTalk.com.

PREVIOUS MONTH: 10 Most Popular Projects in March 2015

The residential property market in Malaysia is showing signs of recovery last year after facing a dip in transactions from 2012.

According to recently released figures by National Property Information Centre (NAPIC), the number of residential property transactions in Malaysia have increased from 246,225 units in 2013 to 247,251 units in 2014, an increase of 1,026 units or 0.42%. The total value of transactions between 2013 and 2014 had also similarly increase from RM72.06 billion to RM82.06 billion, an increase of RM10 billion or 13.88%.

The increase in transactions is particularly noticeable in the primary market – new residential units launched by developers – which saw an increase from 41,190 units in 2013 to 53,777 units in 2014. This is an increase of 30.56% or 12,587 units transacted in the primary market. This also means an increase in value of transactions for the primary market from RM13.92 billion in 2013 to RM20.94 billion in 2014, an increase of 50.43% or RM7.02 billion.

However, the secondary market continues to show a slight drop since 2012 from 214,044 transactions in 2011, 212,428 units in 2012, 205,035 units in 2013 to 193,474 units in 2014. It was only a slight drop of 5.64% or by 11,561 units while the value of transactions went up by 5.13% or RM2.98 billion as the total value of secondary
market units transacted showed a rising trend from RM51.81 billion in 2012, RM58.14 billion in 2013 to RM62.12 billion in 2014.

Over in Penang, the total number of property transactions in the state had increased by 4.01% or by 710 units from 17,700 units in 2013 to 18,410 units in 2014. The total value of transactions between 2013 and 2014 had also similarly increase from RM7.09 billion to RM7.58 billion, an increase of RM490 million or 6.91%.

Again, the primary market in Penang also recorded increases while the secondary market showed a slight drop both in number of transactions and value of transactions. The primary market in Penang indicated a 48.91% increase in total transactions or an increase of 1,345 units to 4,095 in 2014 from 2,750 transacted units in 2013.

Meanwhile, in the secondary market in Penang, there was a 4.25% drop in transactions from 14,950 in 2013 to 14,315 last year. The value of transactions also saw a slight drop of 1.84% from RM5.88 billion in 2013 to RM5.78 billion last year.

A significant drop of transactions priced below rm100,000 to 3,460units in 2014 from a high of 10,436 in 2011 is a cause for concern.

Valuation Consulting & International Real Estate Company Raine & Horne International Zaki + Partners Sdn Bhd’s senior partner Michael Geh noted the overall increase in transacted units as a sign of the property industry
recovering from the continuous dip since 2012. “This could mean that the residential property market has hit bottom in 2013 and is looking up since mid – 2014,” he said.

He added that possible reasons for this upwards spike is the last minute rush by homebuyers to buy one before the implementation of GST. He does not see GST negatively affecting the residential property market much this year as House Buying is a nessesary act from the young couple new home forming, home upgrading to the empty nest selling for the elderly.

“It is hoped that Bank Negara will relax some of the loan requirements for first time home buyers and this will see continued interest in the residential property market,” he said.

Abel Residence, an upcoming gated and guarded housing scheme by Jayamas Property in Bukit Tengah, Penang. It is located next to Taman Sejati, easily accessible via Jalan Bukit Tengah. The newly open Starbuck drive-thru concept store at Icon City Commercial Hub is only a five-minutes walk away.

This development comprises a mix of landed properties and high-rise building:

• 15-storey condominium (112 units)
• 3-storey bungalow (4 units)
• 3-storey zero lot bungalow (11 units)
• 2-storey zero lot bungalow (10 units)
• 2.5-storey terrace (12 units)

Facilities:

• Clubhouse
• Grand Lobby & Lounge
• Rooftop Garden
• BBQ Area
• Swimming Pool
• Sauna Room
• Gymnasium
• Children Playground

by Charles Tan

I have always been telling everyone that the reason until today I do not own a single unit of a landed property is because condo is the future. Landed would become so expensive that the current units and even future supply will not be so easily available or even affordable. Thus, growth would not be huge when compared to condo. After you buy one unit, who can you sell to? Well, honestly when I look at just Penang, I am wrong. Haha. Yes, please take a look at the chart below provided by my good friend, Michael Geh, the senior partner of Raine & Horne International Zaki + Partners Sdn Bhd. It shows that whether it’s 2013 or even 2014, landed terrace homes of 2-3 storey remain the most popular in Penang. This is despite the fact that one row may have just 30 units of these but a few acres of land may be housing a few hundred condo units.

Residential property transaction by type in Penang Island + Mainland

Thus the conclusion from this chart is simple. Penangites are very rich or if they are not rich, it meant that they are crazy for these landed units. Perhaps Penangites are both. Actually, the supply of these landed units would be very limited because the available land within the island is getting lesser. Even for developers who reclaims land, they have to build a lot of high-rise and not these landed ones because it would not be able to cover their costs or even obtain high profits. Besides a usual 2 storey landed is already easily RM1 million in Penang. How many people can afford to buy one anyway? Refer to some samples of latest listings below:

The conclusion from the chart and these landed properties tells us that I may be wrong for now but I may not be wrong for too long once all the high-rise units bought in 2011, 2012, 2013 and even 2014 are continuously coming into the market. Just assuming the prices increase by 3 percent per year would meant that these terrace houses would be considered ‘super grossly unaffordable’ to majority of the usual full time employees like you and me just a few more years down the road. It is now ‘grossly unaffordable.’ For those who can afford to buy a few and wait, I guess the choice is clear yeah. For Penang, landed would always be a premium, then, now and future. Happy owning one.

>> This opinion article comes courtesy of my friend, Charles, the founder of kopiandproperty.com. He is popular for sharing his thought on property investment mostly based on his own 12 years experience as well as from all the readings and conversations with property gurus in the industry. (Source)