Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Monday, October 22, 2012
Location important factor for affordable housing
KUALA LUMPUR: Location is the most important factor where demand for affordable housing is concerned, a property consultant said.
CH Williams Talhar & Wong Sdn Bhd managing director Foo Gee Jensaid during a presentation at CIMB Preferred’s 76th Financial Advisory Series that there was demand for affordable, but the Government would need to put location at the forefront where such property projects were concerned.
“There is always a mismatch when it comes to affordable housing. You can’t build 10,000 low-cost units in Bukit Beruntung even if you sell it cheap,” he said.
“You cannot expect someone who earns RM1,000 a month to live in Bukit Beruntung and work in Kuala Lumpur. The fuel cost alone will kill him. When I visited Iskandar Malaysia (in Johor), I saw affordable apartments that were ready for occupation priced at RM75,000. I was told sales were only 15%.
“There was a big ‘for rent’ banner showing RM300 and they are even providing a shuttle bus service. It is not only about building many homes. The public needs to know where.”
On the Government’s proposal to defray the cost of infrastructure borne by developers, Foo suggested that rather than providing subsidies, it would be better to limit the number of items that property firms had to contribute to.
“They (developers) even pay for the traffic light. There is such a long list. Consumers end up paying for all this.”
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak had said last week the Government was considering a model to help pay for infrastructure so that developers could sell houses below the market price.
“We can come up with a Government allocation to defray the infrastructure costs,” he said in an interview with Chinese radio station Melody FM, adding that developers interested in building affordable homes could approach the 1Malaysia people’s housing programme (PR1MA).
He added that PR1MA would be given unutilised government land to build the homes.
Foo also said there were many plots of land along the Sungai Buloh-Kajang line of the My Rapid Transit with potential to be developed into sites for affordable homes.
These include Kota Elmina near Sungai Buloh and government-owned real estate in Jalan Duta and Taman Suntex, he said, pointing out that they were underutilised in terms of plot ratio and density.
“If the Government is serious about providing affordable housing, it has to take care of the urban poor within this location, not at Kuala Selangor.”
On another matter, he said occupancy and rental rates for the condominium market was expected to stay depressed for the foreseeable future due to incoming supply.
In the first half of the year, the existing supply of serviced residences and condominiums numbered 22,000 but the average take-up rate in the capital was less than 2,000 units annually, Foo noted.
He pointed out that the KLCC area was particularly hard hit with occupancy and rentals heading “down south”.
“The year 2008 was the trigger point, and it has never really recovered. Prices are holding up but that does not correspond with rates and occupancy.
“Everybody is aware of the oversupply in KLCC. Land cost has become so high that developers who have obtained development orders cannot go ahead with their projects or launches.” - The Star
S P Setia ranked first for seventh time
KUALA LUMPUR: S P Setia Bhd was ranked the No 1 developer in Malaysia at The Edge Malaysia Top Property Developers Awards (TPDA) 2012 for the seventh time.
The developer was first in the annual TPDA rankings from 2005 to 2008 and again in 2010 and 2011. This year, S P Setia led in both the quantitative and qualitative sub-rankings, winning the Best Qualitative Attributes Award trophy as well. Its president and CEO Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin took home The Edge Malaysia Outstanding Property Personality Award 2012.
The TPDA is the anchor award of The Edge Malaysia Property Excellence Awards. The awards presentation gala night was held last night.
Other developers that made it to the TPDA 2012 top 10 rankings were Sunway Bhd (2), Sime Darby Property Bhd (3), IGB Corp Bhd (4), UEM Land Holdings Bhd (5), I&P Group Sdn Bhd (6), Mah Sing Group Bhd (7), Gamuda Bhd’s property division (8), Bandar Utama City Corp Sdn Bhd (9) and IJM Land Bhd (10).
The Edge Malaysia Property Excellence Awards also featured The Edge-PEPS Value Creation Excellence Award and The Edge-PAM Green Excellence Award.
In addition, four new awards were introduced this year — the Best in Qualitative Attributes Awards, The Edge Malaysia Outstanding Property Personality Award, The Edge Malaysia Notable Achievement Award and The Edge Malaysia Outstanding Property Project Award.
The Edge Malaysia Notable Achievement Award was won by UOA Development Bhd, the developer of Bangsar South. This award recognises the developer that has made significant success in raising its profile and reputation through its products and branding as a leading player in the country in recent times.
The Edge Malaysia Outstanding Property Project Award, which recognises completed projects that have made an impact through their design and concept, was awarded for the iconic Petronas Twin Towers in KLCC, and conservation project Cheong Fatt Tze mansion in Penang.
Shopoffices in The Lake Precinct Business Park 2 in Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam, and cluster homes at The Gateway precinct in Horizon Hills, Nusajaya won The Edge-PEPS Value Creation Excellence Award 2012 in the non-residential and residential categories respectively. Kota Kemuning and Horizon Hills are joint venture projects between Gamuda and DRB-Hicom Bhd, and Gamuda and UEM Land respectively.
The value creation award jointly initiated by The Edge and the Association of Valuers, Property Managers, Estate Agents and Property Consultants in the Private Sector (PEPS) recognises developments that have rewarded their purchasers in terms of capital appreciation in an outstanding way.
Platinum Sentral, a low-rise office building in KL Sentral developed by MRCB Sentral Properties Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd, is the winner of The Edge-PAM Green Excellence Awards 2012. The award was initiated in partnership with the Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM) to recognise projects that demonstrate sustainable design innovation while contributing positively to the community.
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| (From left) Au, Chor, Liew and Kam striking a pose for the camera at the awards ceremony. |
Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Wira Chor Chee Heung presented the awards. Chor said the prestigious awards allow top-notch developers to stand out.
“Kuala Lumpur’s city skyline changes every six months thanks to the continuous efforts by our local developers and investors making Kuala Lumpur similar to any top-notch city in the world,” he said.
“Kuala Lumpur’s city skyline changes every six months thanks to the continuous efforts by our local developers and investors making Kuala Lumpur similar to any top-notch city in the world,” he said.
The Edge Communications Sdn Bhd managing director Au Foong Yee said in her speech, “The Malaysian property investment landscape is fast evolving and this year marks a new milestone for The Edge property awards. We hope to further raise the bar on the quality of Malaysian property.”
Introduced in 2003, this year marks the 10th year of the TPDA. Property developers are ranked based on their quantitative and qualitative attributes from the consumer’s perspective.
All companies listed on Bursa Malaysia’s property sector are automatically eligible for the awards.
The judges included International Real Estate Federation (Fiabci) Malaysia past world president Datuk Alan Tong, Fiabci Malaysia immediate past president Datuk Richard Fong, Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) Malaysia past president Datuk Jeffrey Ng, Fiabci Malaysia recent past president Datuk Teo Chiang Kok, Fiabci Malaysia past president Kumar Tharmalingam, Rehda Malaysia past president Datuk Eddy Chen, Rehda Malaysia president Datuk Seri Michael Yam and Ho Chin Soon Research founder Ho Chin Soon. The Edge was represented by its managing director Au Foong Yee and executive editor, property, Sharon Kam.
The main sponsor of the awards was Malayan Banking Bhd and the supporting sponsor Malaysia Property Inc.
Full details of The Edge Malaysia Property Excellence Awards 2012 will be published in the Oct 22 issue of City & Country, the property pullout of The Edge.
This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Oct 19, 2012.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Group: Homes in Penang beyond youths’ reach
PETALING JAYA: Youths in Penang, who make up 40% of the state's population, want a change in policy to check escalating house prices.
Penang 4B Youth information chief Hisham Abd Hamid said more than 90% of the young people in the state could not afford to buy homes in Penang because the state government appears to be more developer-centric.
“The Penang government must first control the escalating price of land, as it has a compounding effect on the house prices.
“We cannot put the blame entirely on the developers, as building affordable homes is not feasible when the land price is too high,” he said yesterday.
Hisham was responding to a report in The Star on Thursday on the drastic increase in house prices within just a year.
The Property Stock Report for the first quarter of this year showed house prices in Penang had far exceeded the 2014 price projected by Penang Institute's City, Urbanisation and Environment head Stuart MacDonald.
Valuation and Property Services Department data shows a drastic increase in residential property prices between the first quarter of last year and this year; condominium/apartment went up by 411%, detached units (up 103%), low-cost flats (157%) and other flats (339%).
Former Penang Municipal Council Town Planning Department actingdirector Khoo Boo Soon had said property prices had soared following increase in surcharges imposed by the state government. He had said the attributing factors include increase in infrastructure contribution charge from RM5 per sq ft to RM15, increase in re-zoning fee from 25% to 50% on the current land value, and contribution of RM120,000 per unit in lieu of building low-cost units.
“All these additional charges are passed on to the buyers, hence the drastic increase in house prices,” said Khoo.
Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association (Fomca) deputypresident Muhammad Sha'ani Abdullah said the charges were probably imposed to avoid speculation and profiteering by developers.
“However, genuine buyers should be exempted from re-zoning fees,” he said.
Penang Research Centre in Socio Economy (PReCISE) executive director Nizam Mahsha said the low- and middle-income groups were deprived of chances of owning homes because new housing projects focused on high-end units.
“No mechanism is in place to keep houses within an affordable range.
“Most people in Penang could not afford the houses built in the state,” he noted.
Penang Ratepayers Association president Datuk Eddy Choong said the state government should return the money collected from the developers to the people. - The Star
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