TAMBUN Indah Land Bhd will develop the RM640mil Pearl City Business Park on 107 acres in Simpang Ampat in early 2013, the biggest commercial centre in the northern region.

Phase one of the project comprises a tenant-mixed control leisure mall with food and beverage and retail outlets, a karaoke and a cineplex.

“Phase one will also feature a RM140mil commercial project with 188 commercial lots, which will start construction in mid-2013, and an international school,” says Tambun Indah managing director K.S. Teh.

The Straits International School and the leisure mall are scheduled to start construction respectively in the first and second quarter of 2013.

“The Straits International School, which is under a Cambridge curriculum, is scheduled to commence the first intake in January 2014,” says Teh.

Phase one is scheduled for completion in 2016.

The group is now planning for phase two which will include a hypermarket, medical and wellness centres, gated landed properties, and a furniture village.

The Pearl City Business Park is located close to the second bridge, North South Expressway, and the double-tracking railway, connecting Padang Besar and Ipoh.

There are 12 established and growing industrial parks within a 15km radius of Pearl City Business Centre, providing support for the project.

The Prai Industrial Estate, Penang Science Park, Bukit Minyak Industrial Estate, Bukit Tengah Industrial Estate and Batu KawanIndustrial Park are among the well-known industrial estates.

“Seberang Prai will attract new home seekers who are looking for quality lifestyle living with pricing within their income range,” Teh adds.

The group is currently undertaking six residential projects, comprising 1,197 landed properties, and a commercial scheme, comprising 152 shop offices, with an RM840mil GDV for its Pearl City project on a 150-acre site in Simpang Ampat. The project is scheduled for completion in 2014.

The selling price for the Pearl City properties ranged between RM288,000 and RM800,000 and about 65% of the Pearl City properties have been sold to date.

Tambun Indah Land Bhd, a property development group with projects largely in Seberang Prai, still prefers the mainland to launch new projects this year, despite rising property prices on the island.

Of the five new projects, the group is undertaking in the second half of 2012, only one, the RM236mil Straits Garden, is located in Jalan Jelutong on the island.

The new projects Tambun Indah is undertaking in the second half in Seberang Prai include the RM204.38mil Pearl Residence and RM73.5mil Pearl Impian in Simpang Ampat, RM32.5mil Carissa Villas-Residence in Jalan Raja Uda, and RM51mil BM Residence in Bukit Mertajam.

These projects have a gross development value (GDV) of RM597.6mil.

The Pearl Residence comprises bungalows, double-storey terraced houses, and semi-detached houses, while the Pearl Impian project is made up of double-storey terraced houses.

The Carissa Villas-Residence is a three-storey terraced house project, while the BM Residence comprises apartments and landed properties.

The projects in Seberang Prai are priced between RM280,000 and RM500,000.

The Straits Garden on the island comprises 183 condominiums and 230 commercial suites, priced respectively from RM688,000 and RM318,000 onwards.

“The lower land price in Seberang Prai fits in well with our development philosophy of providing quality lifestyle living at affordable prices.

“Due to the high land prices on the island, concept options are basically limited to high-rise development, varied only in terms of pricing and unit sizes.

“In contrast, lower land prices on various parts of the mainland present an option for more innovative concepts and designs depending on its location and suitability.

“This option offers us more opportunities to innovate and provide our home buyers with higher quality living standards which they can afford.

“We have completed several landed strata gated and guarded projects as well as high-rise development in Butterworth and other areas of Seberang Perai,” he says.

The group still has about 700 acres of land in Simpang Ampat, which will be used for future development of mixed-development projects, Teh says.

Tambun Indah has sold 60% of the strategically located Straits Garden project since its launch in August 2012.

“This is due to Straits Garden’s proximity to the inner city of George Town, the Penang Bridge, and the Free Industrial Zone, which has enhanced the project’s appeal to home seekers,” Teh says.

The group will continue searching for strategic land bank on the island for its future development to deliver homes of quality, Teh adds.

Scheduled for completion in 2016, the Straits Garden is the group’s second project on the island after the Scotland Villas Condominium, completed eight years ago in 2004.

”Scotland Villa’s value has appreciated by about 80% since,” he added.

Tambun Indah is confident of getting good responses from home seekers due to the affordability and range of its products which are mostly priced between RM280,000 and RM500,000.

“Our purchasers also have a choice of owning gated or non-gated units depending on their preference.

“Sales statistics indicate that over 50% of the purchasers for the Pearl Villas gated and guarded parcel at Pearl City are from the island.

“Completion of the Second Bridge next year will offer them a choice of getting quality lifestyle living on the mainland at an affordable price with the convenience of easy travelling to work on the island in the near future,” he says.

On the impact of the global slowdown, Teh says the group expects to see property prices in Penang level off, as prices have escalated too fast on the island.

“We are not immune to the effects of the European crisis and the slowdown in the US and China property markets.

“Bank Negara’s loan regulations and requirements are also having an impact on cooling rising property prices, resulting in the decline of transactional activities,” he says.

Source: The Star

D’Mansion, an upcoming low density development by Mansion Properties Sdn. Bhd. in Bukit Dumbar, Penang. It is strategically located along Jalan Bukit Dumbar, within minutes walk to Dumbar Park.

Property Name: D’Mansion (Formerly known as J Suites)
Location : Bukit Dumbar, Penang
Property Type : Residential
Land Tenure : Freehold
Developer : Mansion Properties Sdn. Bhd.
Contact No.: +604-210 2333

Location Map:

PETALING JAYA: Property firm Malton Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiarySilver Setup Sdn Bhd (SSSB) has entered into a joint-development agreement with Batu Kawan Development Sdn Bhd to jointly develop a 300-acre piece of land in Batu Kawan, Penang into a mixed commercial and residential development with a gross development value of RM3.8bil.

Malton told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that the proposed development was due for completion in phases over 10 years, subject to extension.

SSSB was responsible for the entire development financing, which would be funded by internal generated funds and/or bank borrowings, the proportion to be determined later, it said.

Source: The Star

86 Avenue Residences, strategically located within the bustling neighbourhood of Jelutong, Penang. With easy access to Georgetown, Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu Expressway and Penang Bridge.

This freehold development comprises 96 units of semi-detached concept apartment with 8 units on each floor. Three layout designs to choose from with sizes ranging approximately from 1,028 sq.ft., 1,297 sq.ft. and 1,483 sq.ft.

Project Name : 86 Avenue Residences
Location : Jelutong, Penang
Property Type : Apartment/Condominium
Built-up Area : 1,028 sq.ft. – 1,483 sq.ft.
Total Units : 96
Land Tenure : Freehold
Developer : Yuan Seng Building Trading Sdn. Bhd.
Indicative Price : RM440,000 onwards

Location Map:

DURING the major festivals in this country, we see the authorities conduct vigorous enforcement activities on various price-controlled food items. This is to prevent unscrupulous traders from exploiting the situation by increasing prices of what are deemed as essentials. Sometimes they even secretly stock up such items to create artificial shortages. It is outright profiteering.

We often read about wayward traders being taken to court simply for failure to display prices. Whether such measures breach our free market policy may be open for debate. The bottom line is that it does curb profiteering to a certain extent. Having said that, we would now like to refer to the present scenario in the housing arena.

Affordable housing is now the buzzword. There is no denying that the price of suitable housing has reached a crisis level, beyond the affordability of the average wage earners. This is a highly undesirable situation and, if left unchecked, it can lead to adverse and far-reaching problems. We will end up with a whole generation who will be tenants, subjecting themselves to the whims and fancies of landlords, or who have to commit a vast proportion of their household incomes to service house mortgages.

Bear in mind that the Malaysian household income to debt ratio is among the highest in the world and that the bulk of these debt is incurred in the servicing of house mortgages.

Those who are tenants face the uncertainties of landlords either increasing their rentals or even evicting them. The mortgage group faces a delicate and risky situation where they may get into financial trouble if events do not turn out well. These include the raising of interest rates by financial institutions, any downward trend of property prices, drops in their incomes or the cropping up of other emergencies.

Yes, house prices will go up given any period of time due to natural inflationary forces. This is probably beyond the control of any party. But the recent spate of price escalation is certainly not due to natural forces, the cost of building materials or construction costs, much as industry players would like to make us believe. In the case of land cost, it is a chicken and egg situation.

If house prices have been pushed up (either speculatively or naturally), it goes without saying that land owners would expect higher prices for their land. It is also not due to shortfall of supply over demand as National Property Information Centre (Napic) figures show otherwise.

Rather, it is due to unbridled speculative forces.

On the real property gains tax (RPGT) in Budget 2013, it is unfortunate that our Prime Minister has been ill-advised on the true situation. The rakyat can expect to see an increase in speculative property investments which will in turn further drive up the prices.

Typically, if the property is purchased directly from the developer, it takes 2 years (for landed properties) and 3 years (for strata properties) to be completed. During these construction stages, house buyers are not allowed to sell their properties without the consent of the developer and can only sell the properties after they have been completed.

What the revised RPGT means in lay-man terms is that speculators can purchase properties from property developers upon launch and then flip these properties on after 2 years and having to pay only the proposed 10% (i.e. within the 3rd to the 5th year). After the 5th year, all profits are not taxable. With additional attractive financing packages, very often these speculators just need to pay the 10% downpayment and walk away with a lucrative gain at the end of the construction period.

Stronger and more positive governmental intervention is critically required. We are not suggesting that houses should be subjected to price control like other commodities. But we would like the Government to put in measures to discourage speculation. Alter the landscape to make it less encouraging and less worthwhile for speculation to take place.

We have heard housing developers claim credit for having built X-million number of houses and having created immense wealth when the houses appreciate in value. We also see large numbers of speculators who reap immense profits by just buying/booking and flipping over their purchases and reaping enormous profits. While industry players have cited a host of other causes not all are justified. In any event, the escalation of house prices is good for them as it encourages quick sales brought about by an artificial shortage. On the humanitarian side, there is nothing to feel good about.

Speculative profits are not real profits. Speculators are, in effect, taking money from our future generations to enjoy today. Our future generations and under the prevailing circumstances, even the present generation as well will suffer the effects of exorbitant house prices that have resulted in the high household income to debt ratio. This may be legal but it is downright immoral!

The country’s economy will be an unbalanced one because with such a large proportion of family income committed to house mortgages, a typical household will be compelled to be stingy on other expenditures. Thus, the other industries will suffer.

Statistics have proved that the present high income to debt ratio is brought about primarily by house mortgages. It looks like the proverbial horses have already bolted and we are still dragging our feet in closing the barn door!

We do not see the logic when the Government is so serious about controlling the prices of essential items such as cooking oil, sugar, chicken and a host of other essential items but yet on the subject of house price, it has allowed the situation to remain laissez faire.

We believe that the issue of affordable houses is even more crucial than some of the price-controlled items because one can always find alternatives or reduce the intake of some of those items. But the alternatives for a roof over one’s family are the squatter areas, the shelters under our highway flyovers or the five-foot paths in front of shophouses!

While PR1MA is a good move (barring some of our apprehensions), it is also a typical case of treating the symptoms rather than the cause. In this case, the cause is unbridled speculative activities.

Source: The Star