GEORGE TOWN: Despite the global economic crisis, property investments coming into the country and going to overseas this year are expected to increase substantially.

The recently introduced 10% stamp duty for foreigners buying properties in Singapore has increased the attraction of Malaysia as a property investment destination.

Property investments flowing to Melbourne, Australia, are expected to increase between 15% to 18% this year from RM125mil in 2011, thanks to new housing loans for the Australian market recently introduced byMalayan Banking Bhd (Maybank).

Property Talk International Sdn Bhd managing director Steven Cheahsaid that foreigners showing interest in Malaysian properties had increased significantly this year, compared with the last three years, due to the recent 10% stamp duty introduced in Singapore for foreigners buying homes.

“The other reason is that Kuala Lumpur still remain as one of the few South-East Asian cities with attractive property prices.

“Compared to Jakarta, the price for a prime residential in Kuala Lumpur is about 15% lower.

“The buyers are from Indonesia and China and they show preference for Iskandar, Johor Baru and Kuala Lumpur.

“Indonesians prefer Iskandar because it is close to Singapore,” he said.

The Indonesians and China buyers generally go for properties priced between RM600,000 to RM1.5mil in Iskandar and Kuala Lumpur, while in Penang they go for RM1mil above homes, according to Cheah.

The additional direct flights from Jakarta to Penang by Air Asia had also fueled the interest from Indonesia for Malaysian properties, Cheah added.

This year, Property Talk expects to sell about RM55mil worth of properties located in Johor, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang, compared with over RM20mil achieved for 2011.

“Over the past three months, we have sold over RM25mil worth of properties, comprising 35 residential homes located in Kuala Lumpur and Iskandar, Johor Baru.

“We expect to sell another RM30mil worth of properties, comprising 30 to 40 homes, from Iskandar, Kuala Lumpur, and Penang via three more property exhibitions in Jakarta jointly organised by Malaysia Property Incand private developers before the year ends,” he said.

On investments from Malaysia to Australia, Cheah said the loan interest from Maybank was between 4% to 5% per annum compared with 5.7% to 6% per annum by Australian banks.

“This is why we can expect more Malaysians to take up the loan to invest in Melbourne, Australia this year,” Cheah said, adding that the Maybank housing loan was for Melbourne only.

According to Cheah, Melbourne is the top investment destination for Malaysian property investment funds.

“This is because many Malaysians have relatives who have migrated to Melbourne, where you can find a variety of Malaysian food restaurants.

“According to the latest research from Australian Property Monitors (APM), over the last five years, Melbourne has been the standout performer among the major capital cities for house price growth, with prices increasing almost 30% in just 15 months,” he added.

Meanwhile, Henry Butcher Marketing Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Tang Chee Meng said Henry Butcher had recently set up a property show gallery in Beijing, following the imposition of the 10% stamp duty by the Singapore government for foreigners buying properties in Singapore.

“The gallery, set up two to three months ago, showcases residential properties from Klang Valley, Malacca, and Penang.

“Investors from China are big time property purchasers in Singapore.

“With the 10% stamp duty introduced, Malaysian developers are now trying to attract them over.

“We still need to do a lot of education work in China to promote Malaysia as a property destination, as the awareness is still lacking,” he said.

Tang added there were many enquiries from China investors to buy vacant land to develop residential projects in Malaysia.

“We hope they will undertake development in Malaysia and promote the properties in China.

“This will help to increase more awareness for Malaysian properties in China,” he said.

According to Tang, the global financial crisis which erupted in 2008 and 2009 saw foreign interest for local properties dropped significantly. ”In 2010, we see a return of foreign interest, but the volume and value of property transactions involving foreigners still have not not recovered to anywhere near its peak prior to 2008.

“We believe the pace of investment from overseas will remain flat against last year.

“Besides tapping into traditional sources like Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia, Malaysian developers are moving into markets such as South Korea and China.

“China is a vast market and if Malaysian developers are able to educate the investors on the attraction of Malaysian real estate, we may see a surge in foreign interest,” Tang added.

Henry Butcher Marketing director for international marketing Jazmine Goh meanwhile said the global economic crisis had created favourable conditions and opportunities for Malaysians to invest in overseas real estate.

“The economic slowdown in Britain has caused property prices to plunge and coupled with the drop in the value of the pound sterling against the ringgit, properties in the United Kingdom have become more affordable and within reach of middle income Malaysians.

“The mortgage defaults in the United States have also resulted in a lot of opportunities to pick up properties foreclosed by the banks at a fraction of the original price.

“Of course, the fear of the prolonged debt woes in Europe has at the same time resulted in a more cautious attitude being adopted by investors,” Goh said.

The popular investment destinations for Malaysians are Australia, mainly Melbourne and to a lesser extent, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Gold Coast as well as London, and Singapore, and more recently, the United States, according to Goh.

Source: The Star

RESIDENTS living in the century-old settlement in Gat Lebuh Sandilands off Jalan C.Y. Choy can look forward to better living conditions as a redevelopment proposal for the area has been put in place.

Housewife Loh Bee Luan, 67, said the place was always infested with mosquitoes which breed in stagnant water.

“There is no proper drainage system here and rubbish would clog up the drains too.

“We also encounter snakes and monitor lizards,” she said when met at her home during a visit by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng recently.

Loh added that the place was smelly as it had no proper sewerage system as well.

“We are happy to know that the state government is planning to redevelop this place,” she said.

State Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow, who also visited the place, said the state is planning to redevelop the 1.85ha of land which has 60 residential houses, 14 small factories and three Chinese temples.

“We are here to listen to the residents’ views. This settlement, which has been around for close to 100 years, has been without proper roads as well as drainage and sewerage systems.

“It is located on the fringe of the city. If the state government does not develop such areas, it will continue to be like this for the next 50 years.

“The land office will be doing a detailed survey to know the needs of the occupants, made up of 60 families and their extended families,” he said.

He added that there was a proposal to build a flat for the residents.

“It is under the affordable housing programme,” he said.

Lim said the redevelopment project for public housing was to build better living facilities for the people and improve their quality of life.

“Since the majority of the residents here want redevelopment for public housing, we, as a people-centric government, have decided to visit them to gather more feedback,” he said, adding that the Penang Development Corporation would do the planning for the public housing project.

Source: The Star

BUKIT MERTAJAM: Some 100 residents of Taman Desa Damai in Bukit Mertajam held a peaceful gathering to protest against the proposed flyover between Jalan Nangka in Taman Desa Damai and Jalan Perda Timur in Bandar Perda.

They claimed the flyover, which is to be built over the double track railway project, would cause inconvience to them.

Mohd Faiz Hassan, the chairman of the Taman Desa Damai Action Committee, which organised the protest, said the residents were having peace of mind following the solving of flood woes but now they faced another problem with the proposed construction of the flyover.

Another resident, C. Kantama,66, said once the flyover was completed, Lorong Nangka would become a busy road which, he claimed, would cause traffic problems with speeding vehicles.

“The road is going to split Taman Nangka with people needing to travel 1km just to get to the other part of the residential area,” he said during the protest at Taman Nangka yesterday.

He claimed the pasar malam would be closed once the flyover was built, thus causing hardship to the affected traders.

Major (Rtd) Jaafar Abdul Rahman, 65, wanted the authorities concerned to consider relocating the proposed flyover.

Penang MCA Public Complaint Bureau chief Tan Teik Cheng, who is also the Padang Lalang Barisan Nasional coordinator who was at the demonstration, called upon the authorities including the Federal Government to consider the appeal of the residents and find an appropriate way to settle the matter once and for all.

Padang Lalang assemblyman Tan Cheong Heng said he would meet the Public Works Department along with the members of the action committee next week to find a solution to the matter.

Source: The Star

THE year 2013 is pretty much a busy one for Dijaya Corp Bhd as it is planning some 12 launches spread over the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor. One of the more imminent ones include The W Hotel & The Residences, which deputy managing director of Dijaya Dickson Tan is personally spearheading.

Situated on 1.28 acres of freehold commercial land along Jalan Ampang, The W Hotels & The Residences will have 150 rooms while the residences will have 353 units.

In early 2011, Dijaya announced its partnership with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, to develop a W Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP from New York, The W Hotel & Residences will be located within the Golden Triangle and is situated along Jalan Ampang, across the Petronas Twin Towers. It is about 500 metres from the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.

“The W Hotel will truly mark resort living in the city. You will forget that you are in the middle of a bustling city,” says Tan.

Another mixed development to be launched which is likely to garner interest in the 88 acre Tropicana Hills in Subang, which is a mixed development of condos, retail lots, offices and a shopping mall.

“I think what people want today is affordability. There is strong demand for properties below RM800,000. The trend is now moving away from landed properties because of the affordability factor,” says Tan.

Meanwhile, some of the properties being injected into Dijaya which are ready for development are in pretty prime spots. For example, in the Klang Valley, Dijaya will get its hands on pockets of land on Jalan Kia Peng and Jalan Bukit Bintang which are located in the city centre. In Penang, it has land along Jalan Macalister, while in Sabah it has land on Jalan Bundusan.

To be exact, the landbank with ready development orders include land in SS13, Subang Jaya (RM200mil), Jalan Kia Peng (RM330mil), Jalan Bukit Bintang (RM680mil), The Landmark (RM90mil), Jalan Segama, Lahad Datu (RM30mil) and Jalan Albert Kwok (RM60mil).

Key yielding assets include Dijaya Plaza, Jaya Square, Wisma TT and Casa Square in the Klang Valley, while in Sabah, there is Bangunan Blue 7.

As for the Johor property market, Tan says that the buoyancy of demand actually caught the company by surprise. For instance, Tower A of Tropez Residences which was launched last December, has recorded a take up rate of 90% (not taking into account the Bumiputera units), while Tower B and C which were launched this year have recorded take up rates of 87% and 22% respectively.

“Profile-wise, some 40% of the homebuyers are Johoreans, another 40% from the Klang Valley and the remainder Singaporeans,” says Tan.

Wanting to further capitalise on this growth, in June, Dijaya’s 80%-owned subsidiary, Aliran Peluang Sdn Bhd entered into a sales and purchase agreement to buy 11 parcels of land, measuring a total of 2.4 million sq ft, or 55.07 acres, in Mukim Pulai, Johor, for RM105.07mil.

Currently, Dijaya has four projects in Johor, namely Tropicana Danga Bay, Tropicana Danga Cove, Tropicana Senibong and now Mukim Pulai.

Dijaya has two joint ventures with Iskandar Waterfront Sdn Bhd for its projects in Danga Bay.

Tropicana Danga Bay is a 60:40 joint venture between Dijaya andIskandar Waterfront, with an expected GDV of RM3.8bil which will take an estimated eight to 10 years to complete.

Tropicana Danga Cove, with more than 220 acres, is earmarked to be developed into a new township with a GDV of RM2.9bil while the 37-acre Tropicana Danga Bay and the injected lands will be turned into a mixed development with a high GDV due to its proximity to city centre.

“It was just 5 years ago, that nobody believed the Johor story. However, maybe 5 to 10 years from today, once the infrastructure is complete and the MRT connecting Johor and Singapore is ready, think how prime and in-demand the Johor properties will be,” says Tan.

To date, Iskandar Malaysia has attracted investments of RM10.67bil in the first six months of 2012. Cumulative committed investments have reached RM95.45bil, represented mainly by Asia (42%) and Europe (40%).

Dickson says that the economic zone of Iskandar Malaysia will continue to be the driving factor in boosting the demand for properties in Johor Bahru.

For example, the completion of several major ongoing road and highway projects in Iskandar Malaysia such as the New Coastal Highway, Eastern Dispersal Link Expressway (EDL) and Senai-Pasir Gudang-Desaru Expressway and the widening of Permas Jaya bridge will improve connectivity within Johor Bahru.

“Upon completion and commencement of operations, such infrastructure developments will provide a boost to demand of properties in Johor Bahru due to better connectivity. This augurs well for our developments, which are located within the central business district of Iskandar Development Corridor,” says Tan.

As for Penang, Dijaya has a 55:45 joint venture with Ivory Properties Group Bhd to develop a 41.02ha development in Bayan Mutiara. The joint-venture company, Tropicana Ivory Sdn Bhd will undertake a mixed residential and commercial property project with a GDV of RM9.8bil over the next eight to 12 years. The land was sold for RM1.07bil, or RM240 per sq ft, to be paid over five years

Last November, Ivory announced that it was entering into a 49:51 joint venture with Dijaya to develop Bayan Mutiara.

In March it received shareholder approval for its plan to purchase and develop this piece of land. Tan adds that the masterplan has yet to be submitted, as it is still in the planning stage. The project will be called Penang World City.

“It will include a mixed development, which includes high-rise residential as well as commercial components such as shopping mall, board walk al fresco dining area, hotel and an office tower,” said Dickson.

“Acquisitions of development lands in Penang Island by developers have been active in 2011. We are upbeat about the potential growth of the Penang property market, especially with government initiatives to improve the infrastructure and further attracting investments into Penang,” says Tan.

Source: The Star

THE property market is highly volatile and thrives on speculation.

Although Malaysia is considered a fairly stable market with steady appreciation in value, unlike other places around the globe, it is important for Malaysians to understand when and where they should invest their money.

It was reported last year that the local property market would see moderate growth in 2012 due to a gloomy economic outlook.

However, as we approach the final quarter of the year, the property market seems robust, with more developments being launched and take up rates for new developments averaging above 50% despite volatile economic conditions in the West.

Recently, a property developer informed MetroBiz that most of their condominium units were bought as an investment as many expect that the area to appreciate it value.

“They can always rent it out to cover their monthly installments and after several years, the value of the property will have gone up by at least 30% given its location,” said the developer.

But if that’s the case, why are there so many vacant condominiums in Mont Kiara, Bukit Ceylon and other upscale property developments? MetroBiz takes a closer look at the property sector, a playing field has created so many millionaires and, perhaps, an equal number of bankrupts.

How many times have we heard at the coffee shop that a new property is being launched and that we should buy it immediately because property prices in Malaysia always appreciate. It is not uncommon to hear the phrase, “You will never lose.”

Property guru and investment specialist Marco Robinson calls this speculative buying.

“Most Malaysians invest their money in property based on speculation without seeing the bigger picture.

“Eventually they will not have a positive cash flow from their investment and after a few years they end up selling the property to balance the books or even worse, having the bank take back the property,” he said.

The author of Know When To Close The Deal and Suddenly Grow Rich and a proud member of the billionaire boys club for achieving over US$1bil (RM3.1bil) in sales, Robinson said Malaysians need to invest in educating their minds before investing in anything.

“Many fail to realise that the recession we had is part of an 80-year cycle and we are still in it. Look at Europe, for example. Almost every week we hear countries like Italy, Portugal, and Greece, among others expecting, bailouts.

“And in the US, markets are still crashing and will crash further after the presidential elections are concluded,” he stressed.

Robinson further adds that the global economic outlook for next year will be far worse than predicted and for the first time in history, we could face a triple dip recession.

“Malaysians who are serious about property investments should look into markets such as the US where house prices have dropped tremendously,” said Robinson. “These markets can offer good rent yields and, once the economy bounces back within a few years, the value of the property will appreciate,” he added.

Robinson cited the Hilton family that invested during the 1920s and 1930s, at the height of the Great Depression.

“From my experience, Malaysia is one of the toughest markets to collect rent,” said Robinson, when asked about the risk involved with property purchases overseas.

According to Robinson, Malaysia should not be classified as an emerging market and should be reclassified as a semi-developed nation due to its nature as a “slow-burning” market.

“In Malaysia, although property prices are expected to appreciate, it takes a very long time. Right now, property prices are too high in Malaysia and it does not make cash-flow sense as you need to service your mortgage which is not covered by rent yield returns,” he explained.

Also, property transactions in Malaysia take at least six months to finalise, while in the UK it only takes three days. “In that six months, anything could happen and you may lose out,” said Robinson.

According to a report by Jones Lang LaSalle, a financial and professional services firm specialising in real estate services and investment management, the second quarter of 2012 marks a return to investment transactions above the psychologically important US$100 billion mark and, at US$108 billion, volumes are up 24% quarter-on-quarter globally.

The report further stated: “The rental outlook for 2012 has been tempered by ongoing economic uncertainty, although we continue to expect positive rental growth in many major prime office markets — the notable exceptions being Hong Kong and Singapore.

We still remain particularly bullish about rental growth in Beijing and San Francisco (+20% to 25%) and we have upgraded our projections for Mexico City (+15% to 20%) as supply conditions tighten.”

Closer to home, it was reported that Budget 2013 will see more measures to control the soaring prices of property, including tighter fiscal policies to curb speculation.

With 58% of households in the cities earned less than RM4,000 a month including 44.5% earning less than RM2,500, the government is expected to allocate more affordable housing projects such as the People’s Housing Project (PPR) and the 1Malaysia People’s Housing Project in the coming Budget.

Local industry experts such as Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah is confident that Malaysia will not be experiencing any such property bubble.

It pays to do your homework before you take the big step into property investment. A sound strategy can pay off even with uncertainties around interest rates and volatile market conditions.

You can reap rewards if you choose the right property as the shortage of rental properties, combined with rising prices in most markets across the globe but be sure keep a close eye on your investment.

MetroBiz is not liable for any purchases made based on the information above. Please do your own research before investing.

Source: The Star