Property to remain buoyant in 2011

The property market in Malaysia is expected to remain buoyant next year, seeing a moderate uptrend in prices, in line with economic growth and growing interest among foreigners.

Speakers at a press conference on the Fourth Malaysian Property Summit 2011 here today said, no property bubble is expected in the foreseeable future, due to pent up demand for certain upmarket condo launches.

The Malaysian Property Summit is scheduled to be held on Jan 18, 2011 at the Sime Darby Convention Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

More than 200 participants, including developers, property owners, investors, bankers, financial analysts, economists, and property consultants are expected to attend.

Property consultant and valuer, James Wong said, the sharp increase in prices, is only to be seen in certain landed properties in choice locations with a huge demand for it in Kuala Lumpur and Penang.

James Wong is also the managing director of VPC Alliance (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and regional chairman of VPC Asia Pacific Limited, a regional grouping of property consultants operating in eight countries.

"With escalating prices of property, one of the challenges for the government is to boost income, and move the country towards a high income economy," he said.

"This can be achieved by providing clear guidelines under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), especially on Private Finance Initiatives (PFI), as a majority of the funding under it comes from private initiatives," he told a press conference.

The president of the Association of Valuers, Property Managers, Estate Agents and Property Consultants in the Private Sector, Malaysia (PEPS), Choy Yue Kwong said in 2011, property prices would improve but the office market will remain soft.

"The property market currently is still very buoyant. Market prices are at record new highs. Interest rate is still relatively low," Choy said during the same press conference.

Choy emphasised that the high Asian savings will also cushion against a property bubble.

"It is challenging to own a house with a salary of just only RM4,000 a month. In 1975, a house in the Klang Valley was around RM30,000 and graduates earned about RM700 a month.

"Today, a graduate earns about RM2,000 but a house in the Klang Valley could easily cost RM400,000," he elaborated. Thus, Choy said, owning a house is only possible if the government made an effort to uplift income.

Eric Ooi, managing director of Knight Frank Malaysia, a global residential and commercial property consultancy, said this problem is prevalent in Asian countries.

"Funds and investment money is moving into Asia as the United States and the European economies are still struggling to come out of the doldrums.

"There is a lot of interest from buyers from China who are agressively buying into properties in Australia and Singapore. If these buyers start buying into Malaysian properties, then prices will further escalate," he said.

According to Ooi, there is a lot of interest at present from Singaporean and Hong Kong buyers, for Malaysian properties.

He highlighted that foreigners are looking at the yield in making decisions on property purchases.

"Currently, the Kuala Lumpur property market has a positive yield. Investors also like stability in the country and election results will have an impact on their investment mood," he explained.

He also said another factor to affect the property market is any increase in interest rates as it will impact the repayment of loans.

"However, there are expectations that the interest rate will not increase susbstantially," Choy added.




Source : Bernama



Date Published : 17 December 2010

Developers be warned, China's a tough market

KUALA LUMPUR: More developers are venturing into China's property market but their investments may be at risk because of red tape and fears of overheating, analysts say.

A MIDF Research analyst said the China market is a tough one to conquer without good connections with local authorities and partners who can deal with changing rules.

He said this could be the reason why the big boys such as Sunrise Bhd, TA Enterprise Bhd, SP Setia Bhd, Berjaya Land Bhd, Selangor Dredging Bhd, Ireka Corp Bhd and PJ Development Holdings Bhd are investing in Canada, Australia, the UK, Singapore and Japan as risk is less.

LBS Bina Group Bhd recently said it aims to launch its maiden property project in Zhuhai, worth RM7.5 billion, in 2012.

The project was mooted more than five years ago and according to a property industry observer, LBS is still having issues with the government.

"Bureaucracy in China is extremely complex, while expansion in the Chinese market represents a significant investment as foreign developers are required to put a 50 per cent deposit on the value of their project with the government.

"And since developers cannot sell their houses until upon completion, they have to fork out money to settle the high interest rates and for keeping stock in the event of unsold properties," said an analyst at OSK Research who is not authorised to speak to the media.

Developers such as Golden Plus Holding Bhd (GPlus) have lost money in China. GPlus' 3 billion yuan housing project in Shanghai, The Royal Garden, had incurred cost and time overruns in the last few years.

The project, which was slated for completion much earlier, now requires two to three more years.

Some other developers who have yet to launch projects planned few years ago include IJM Land Bhd and Sunway Group.

IJM Land has been in talks with various parties for mixed property developments in China's second-tier cities in the last four to five years.

In 2008, IJM Land managing director Datuk Soam Heng Choon said it was planning a RM500 million mixed property project in Changchun.

When contacted recently, Soam told Business Times that IJM Land is aiming to launch the project in 2012, pending approvals.

As for Sunway, it signed in April 2010 a collaboration agreement with Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development Co Ltd to develop a RM5 billion mixed development in Tianjin. The project has not started.



By : Sharen Kaur



Source : Business Times



Date Published : 25 July 2011

Act against illegal banners

Wednesday July 20, 2011

By FAZLEENA AZIZ
fazleena@thestar.com.my
Photos by BRIAN MOH


DEPUTY Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk M. Saravanan is urging the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to form a unit to disconnect the telephone numbers displayed on illegal stickers and banners in the city.

Saravanan said the MCMC’s role was pertinent as it was one of the best ways to curb this problem that was marring the city’s image.

“Last year we had submitted more than 400 numbers to MCMC but there has not been any feedback on the matter.

Hard to remove: Some of the DBKL officers removing illegal stickers posted on a lamp post in Wangsa Maju.

“These illegal stickers and banners block signboards and road names,” he said.

The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) workers have to go around the city every other day to remove them,” he said during an operation to remove the illegal banners and stickers by the local authority yesterday.

About 80 DBKL employees took part in the operation in Desa Setapak, Teratai Mewah and Taman Bunga Raya.

Saravanan said they had to discuss with the minister to come up with a better policy or bylaw on the matter.

Ugly sight: Illegal stickers posted on a telephone booth in Wangsa Maju .

“Legal proceedings usually take time and it will be more effective to disconnect the telephone lines displayed on the illegal stickers.

“I would like to urge non-governmental organisations to carry out more campaigns to curb this problem,” he said.

He added that the DBKL would also bring down worn out flags.

Until June this year, 227,985 illegal stickers had been removed in Cheras, Batu and Bandar Tun Razak.

Last year, 458,811 stickers and banners were removed.

The most number of illegal stickers were found in Bandar Tun Razak followed by Bukit Bintang and Wangsa Maju.