After the successful launch of Y Cantonment Townhouses, next on Yeangs Sdn. Bhd.’s list is the launch of another exclusive 19-storey residential building on the corner of Jalan Burmah and Jalan Bagan Jermal which is located in the upmarket suburb of Pulau Tikus, Penang.

This project is currently known as Burmah Road Eco, comprises of 90 units of SoHos, 2 & 3 bedroom apartments (both single units and duplex units), luxury penthouses and an upmarket restaurant within the refurbished heritage house on the site. Other amenities will include exclusive retail shops on the 2nd and 3rd floors and shared facilities on the podium level such as an infinity pool, gym and other common rooms.

The overall development will feature high quality finishes and employ the functions of natural lighting, ventilation and vertical green spaces which are the signature of Dato Dr Ken Yeang’s work.

Project Name: (To be confirmed)
Location : Pulau Tikus, Penang
Property Type : Mixed development
Developer : Yeangs Sdn. Bhd.

To the common folks, choosing a home loan is almost as hard as choosing the property itself. If you’re currently in the midst of shopping for a home loan to buy the house of your dream, here are 6 things you should consider before making what would arguably be the biggest financial decision of your life.

1. Type of Home Loan

First and foremost, consider what works best for you: a Traditional Term Loan or a Flexible Home Loan (“Flexi-Loan”). A Traditional Term Loan requires you to pay a fixed amount each month for the entire tenure of your home loan (e.g. 30 years), whilst a Flexi-Loan gives you the option of reducing your interest whenever you wish (i.e. by saving your extra money into a linked current account. The more you save, the less interest you pay).

If you have a strict and predictable cash-flow pattern, a Traditional Term Loan may be best. If you prefer flexibility in paying off your loan, a Flexi-Loan is recommended.

2. Interest Rate

As of all loans, your priority should probably go to the bank that offers you the lowest interest rate. Citing an example we’ve used before: for a home loan of RM500,000 over a period of 30 years, the difference in interest between an interest rate of 4.2% and 4.15% (i.e. a mere 0.05%) could be well over RM5,000! To find out which bank offers the best home loan interest rate, check out our handy home loan comparison table.

3. Margin of Financing (How Much You Can Loan)

Depending on various factors which include the value of the property as well as your standing with the bank, different banks may offer you different Margins of Financing. As you’ll be required to pay any amount not covered by the home loan upfront, this becomes very important especially if you’re short on cash.

As an example: for a RM500,000 house, you’ll need to pay RM100,000 upfront if your Margin of Financing is 80%; but you’ll only need to pay RM50,000 upfront if your Margin of Financing is 90%.

4. Lock-In Period

Lock-In Period is the period you’ll incur a penalty (usually 2-3% of the principle loan amount) if you choose to pay off your home loan in full before it reaches the end of its tenure. When it comes to choosing a home loan, it pays to have the Lock-In Period as short as possible and the penalty as low as possible. Also, some banks do not charge a penalty at all if sufficient notice is given. For a start, you may wish to compare the Lock-In Periods of all Malaysian banks on iMoney.

5. Fees & Charges

A home loan application involves professional and government-regulated processes such as preparation and disbursement of loan agreement, payment of stamp duty and processing by the bank, just to name a few. All these processes usually come with fees & charges that will be borne by you, the buyer. In certain cases, it may also be wholly or partly borne by the banks as part of your loan packages. Hence, is it best to sit down with the loan officers (for all the banks you are considering taking your home loan from) and have them run through the fees and charges with you. The task may be repetitive and time-consuming… but it’ll be time well spent.

6. The Bank

Lastly, understand that you’ll be dealing with the bank on a very frequent basis for as long as your home loan is in effect (which may be 20 to 30 years). With that in mind, you should probably choose a bank you are very comfortable with. Some of the things you may wish to think about include:

• Do you have an existing savings or current account with the bank (for ease of inter-account transfer)?
• Are you satisfied with their standard of service?
• Is a local branch available near your home or office?
• Do you consider the bank to be trustworthy or reliable?
• Does the bank offer value-added services that will make your life easier for the long haul?
• How is the bank’s reputation as a whole?

Ready to choose your home loan now? Why not proceed to our home loan comparison table and see what your available options are!

This article comes courtesy of www.imoney.my which compares between the various loans, savings and insurance schemes available in Malaysia.

Sanctuary Villa, second phase of Permatang Sanctuary by IJM in Alma, Bukit Mertajam. Strategically located within established neighbourhood, about a 15-minute drive from Juru Auto-City and the Penang Second Link.

Like Sanctuary Garden (phase 1), this is a guarded residential development comprises 134 units of semi-detached (side-by-side & back-to-back) and 2 units of bungalow houses.

Related Projects:

• Sanctuary Garden
• Sanctuary Residence
• Sanctuary Ridge
• Sanctuary Row
• Sanctuary Village
• Sanctuary Terrace

Property Project : Sanctuary Villa (Permatang Sanctuary)
Location : Permatang Tinggi, Bukit Mertajam, Penang
Property Type : 2-Storey Semi-Detached & Bungalow
Tenure : Freehold
Total Units : 134 (semi-detached), 2 (bungalow)
Indicative Price: RM750,000 onwards
Developer : IJM Land
Contact No: 04-296 1222

The Rise (was known as Chelliah Park City), an affordable housing scheme by Penang State Government. Zubicon Sdn Bhd has been awarded the tender to build 1,900 units of affordable housing at Jalan S.P. Chelliah in Georgetown. This housing scheme comprises units with size ranging from 700 sq.ft onwards. Here are the summary of units available for each category:

Zubicon has proposed the concept of sustainable and self-contained compact development which would fit into a central business district, consisting of RM 25 million worth of public facilities that include a linear park, a 70 percent green space and the improvement of Sungai Pinang.

The public facilities include a linear park and beautification of Sungai Pinang, bus terminal, bicycle lane and pedestrian walkway and also a surau.

READ MORE ABOUT AFFORDABLE HOUSING:

• Eligibility and the requirement of buying affordable housing
• Full list of affordable housing in Penang

For registration details, you may refer to http://erumah.penang.gov.my/

Property Name: The Rise (previously known as Chelliah Park City)
Location : Jalan S.P. Chelliah, Georgetown, Penang
Property Type : Mixed development
Built-up Area: 700 sq.ft. – 1,000 sq.ft.
Developer : Zubicon Sdn Bhd

Location Map:

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Hot spots include Batu Maung, Bayan Lepas, George Town, Tanjung Bungah, Teluk Bahang, as well as areas around five new proposed highways.

“Despite uncertainties in both external  global economy and internal political risks that have caused some investors to slow down in the short term, market analysts believe that the cautiously optimistic trend will continue in 2013 with a stable and positive outlook (in medium to long term) for Penang’s property market, sustained by healthy core demand, manageable mortgage rates, and positive economic growth,” says Henry Butcher Malaysia (Penang) director Jason Teoh, interviewed in conjuction with the upcomingMalaysian Secondary Property Exhibition (Maspex) 2013.

“An active residential sub-sector will continue to spearhead the market, though it might experience less buzz compared to the previous year.”

“On the island, the hot spot or corridor of opportunities would be in Batu Maung, Bayan Lepas, George Town, Tanjung Bungah and Teluk Bahang areas.  On the mainland, the investors would be able to get residential properties that are relatively cheap with low density at strategic locations.  A new enabler – the second Penang Bridge, will appear in the landscape of Penang soon in the third quarter of this year.  The opportunities may arise not only on the island but on the mainland as well.  Investors perhaps could look into and analyse the future potential opportunities of the land banks around the intersection of the North-South Highway and the second Penang Bridge,” Teoh advised.

He continued, “Areas around the five new proposed highways under the “Recommended Penang Transport Master Plan Strategy, 2013”, namely, George Town Outer Bypass, The North Coast Pair Road, The Air Itam – Relau Pair Road, The North-South Expressway Link Road, Third Sea Crossing, could be the potential hot locations for the property market in the near future.”

Penang has been one of the most dynamic real estate markets in Malaysia, as most property watchers are aware of.  “The volume and value of property transactions grew at a cumulative average growth rate of 8.4% and 13.2% respectively, from 1999-2011.  These were even higher from 2009-2011, reaching 20.1% and 26.0% respectively.”

Chart 1: Penang – House Price Index by Type, 1999 – 2012 Q3 (P). Source: Ministry of Finance, Malaysia / Henry Butcher Research

Of all property types, terraced houses have increased in price the most over the last few years. Its price index from 1999 to Q3 2012 (P) can be seen in the graph above to have hiked higher than other type of properties.

Another type of property that is in hot demand, with potential capital appreciation, is pre-war heritage shophouses.  The price index of pre-war properties in George Town started to soar after 1999 (chart below).

Chart 2: Penang – Price Index of Pre-war Heritage Property, 1980 – 2012. Source: HB Research

Teoh believes that the demand for properties in both the new and secondary market will continue to grow and appeal to a wider segment of local and international buyers.

He added, “Furthermore, slightly more than one-third of the total 1.61 million population in Penang are from the age of 25 to 44, indicating that we are still in need of a fairly large number of houses or residential properties each year. Nevertheless, the developers have to be more versatile and build according to the changing trends and needs of the market.”

Henry Butcher Malaysia (Penang) has been providing real estate solutions to government, commerce and industry in Malaysia for more than 20 years, says Teoh. It calls itself a “one-stop” provider, offering a comprehensive range of services.

Maspex 2013 will be held over the weekend of April 12 to 14, at the concourse of Tropicana City Mall, PJ. Organised by the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA), it will feature booths by 32 real estate agencies with photos and presentations of previously owned properties for sale.

Other participating agencies include Reapfield Shah Alam which talks to StarProperty.my about Shah Alam hot spots, as well as Property Hub Sdn Bhd which talks to us about how many buyers are anticipating a price correction.

Source: StarProperty.my