Attraction of average-size residential, shopping projects

The built environment in the Klang Valley, Penang and other parts of the country is poised for major changes going by the ambitious infrastructure and development projects that have been planned to boost the liveability and growth potential of our major cities.

Projects such as the mass rapid transit in the Klang Valley and the light rail transit and monorail projects in Penang will certainly herald many new changes in the property landscape.

These infrastructure projects will undoubtedly spawn opportunities for other types of development such as housing, office buildings, shopping malls, industrial parks and public facilities.

With all the big plans under way, there may be a tendency to pay too much attention on building mega buildings and structures, and neglect the basic, simple needs and necessities of the common folks.

Many Klang Valley folks consider it unnecessary to spend too much resources on gigantic structures and projects just to add to the city’s skyline.

In fact, the debate on whether there is a need to build the 100-storey Warisan Merdeka tower in the vicinity of Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, is still on.

Personally, I believe there are many worthwhile projects that can be pursued, such as cultural and art centres that should be planned based on traditional architecture and using local and indigenous designs and materials. They present opportunities to liven up our cities with more holistic activities and showcase the rich local culture and heritage to visitors.

So it makes sense to incorporate Malaysia’s multi-culture and multi-ethnic heritage into the new commercial projects in our major cities.

We must remember that foreign visitors and tourists to the country are here to savour and experience the living heritage of the people in our cities, towns and villages, instead of gazing at the skyscrapers and concrete jungle which they can find in their own countries. In many ways, what they hope to experience is the simple, yet rich and original way of life of the local people.

Likewise, new residential projects should also look into the basic needs of potential buyers and should be functional instead of over-emphasising the aesthetics. There is a growing number of people who want to live in the city centre but find the prices of the property way beyond their reach.

There should be more effort to build smaller “starter” units in the urban conurbations in order to attract and retain young talent and workforce in cities, particularly Kuala Lumpur.

A review of planning laws and incentives should be considered to encourage developers to build more such entry-level properties for first-time homeowners.

These developments can be integrated with some nice lifestyle food and beverage outlets and retail centres.

Since a number of condominium projects have yet to be fully sold or occupied, perhaps the developers can look at redesigning the layout plans and turn some of the overly spacious units to smaller homes.

Developers of such starter homes have reported brisk sales and there is still a long waiting list for these smaller residences.

In fact, there is also tremendous opportunity to further liven up the Klang Valley’s retail landscape with more average size lifestyle outlets and centres.

The plan to link major retail destinations in Kuala Lumpur’s main shopping hub will help promote the city as a favourite shopping destination.

Walking around shopping malls that are well spaced out, safe and not overcrowded has proven to be therapeutic and relaxing.

It is not only the fairer gender who are taking to shopping as a favourite past-time but their male counterparts have also caught up with this habit. Whether it is to look for something to buy or just taking a stroll, shopping complexes have become favourite haunts for many Klang Valley folks.

The scorching sun has made walking a chore these days and setting up shaded pedestrian walkways in major shopping streets will do well to promote the city’s shopping potential.

Deputy news editor Angie Ng knows that in many ways, simplicity and originality is highly desirable as far as living environment is concerned.

By The Star (by Angie Ng)

YTL Corp bullish on growth prospects

SINGAPORE: YTL Corp Bhd sees good growth for the company despite the challenging global economic environment.

"We have just announced profits this year," said YTL Singapore Pte Ltd executive director, Ruth Yeoh Pei Cheen

"It will continue to perform good business," she told Bernama in an interview here recently.

YTL Corp Bhd recently announced a 13.3 per cent growth in revenue to RM8.905 billion for the six months ended Dec 31, 2010 compared with RM7.857 billion in the previous corresponding period ended Dec 31, 2009.

The group’s utilities comprise power generation and transmission in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Australia, water and sewerage services in the United Kingdom, merchant multi-utility businesses in Singapore and communications in Malaysia.

Yeoh said the company also took to ensuring that all its businesses strived to preserve the environment. The companies have to send the sustainability report every year, she added.

When asked on new projects, the Director of International Real Estate of YTL Singapore, Kemmy Tan said the group was looking to develop its projects in Malaysia.

"We also bought the 460-hectare Niseko Village in Hokaido last year."

YTL Group Managing Director Tan Sri Dr Francis Yeoh Sock Ping had announced YTL's master plan to re-energise the development of Niseko Village in Hokaido.

Targeting affluent individuals, Niseko Village will be transformed into an all-season mountain resort offering exclusive hotels, luxury homes, ski-in ski-out estates and exclusive shopping and dining, all with spectacular views of Mount Yotei (Ezo Fuji, the Mount Fuji of northern Japan).

Tan said the project is being managed by Singapore office.

In time to come, Tan said two projects in Singapore namely Sentosa Cove and the land in Orchard Boulevard will be streamlined into YTL Land.

The Japanese assets were acquired for about US$66 million while the Singapore project cost S$575 million, she disclosed.

The project in Singapore is in the planning stage and the launch could be probably next year.

By Bernama

Bid to block sale of Putra Place to SunREIT

Two individuals, Robert Ti and Indonesian Kornelis Kurniadi, are trying to block the sale of Putra Place to Sunway Real Estate Investment Trusts (SunREIT).

They are taking legal action against OSK Trustees Bhd and SunREIT. Ti and Kurniadi have also named Commerce International Merchant Bankers Bhd and Deputy Registrar.

The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction to restrain OSK and SunREIT from completing the sale.

On March 31, OSK Trustees, on behalf of SunREIT, was announced the winning bidder for Putra Place at RM513.95 million.

SunREIT told Bursa Malaysia that it completed the purchase of the property on April 19 and the title has passed to OSK Trustees and the balance purchase price has also been settled.

The matter is expected to be heard next week.

By Business Times

2010 a record year for Malaysia property mart

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian property market hit a record year in 2010 with RM107.44 billion worth of properties transacted and the trend will continue this year.

"There will be an increase this year, but marginally," said National Property Information Centre (NAPIC) director-general Datuk Abdullah Thalith Md Thani.



The property market enjoyed double-digit growth in 2010, with transactions and value expanding 11.4 per cent and 32.4 per cent to 376,583 and RM107.44 billion respectively.

Residential property dominated the overall market, taking 60.2 per cent of total volume and 47.1 of the value of transactions.

Abdullah Thalith said NAPIC expects the property market this year to benefit from the various economic initiatives undertaken by the government.

Projects such as the Kuala Lumpur International Financial District, mass rapid transit in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Warisan Merdeka, the development of federal land in Sungai Buloh and the redevelopment of Pudu prison, which are expected to be implemented this year, will have positive spillover effects, he said.

Abdullah Thalith said the unrest in the Middle East and Japan, which was hit by tsunami, will not dampen growth as he expects the Arabs and Japanese to continue buying here.

He was speaking at the launch of the Property Market Report 2010 by Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai here yesterday.

The report showed that in terms of pricing, the Malaysian All House Price Index surged by 8.9 points to 140.7 points.

Lim said Malaysians should not worry about a property bubble as the situation is under control. He urged all states to speed up the process of approving property transactions, especially for leasehold units.

"A lot of states, especially Selangor, are slow in doing this. We have a lot of foreigners buying leasehold properties here. We must address the issue as the foreigners are bringing in money. This will lift the economy," he said.

By Business Times

Inflation and demand to lift property prices 10%-20% this year

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian property prices are expected to increase at an average of between 10% and 20% this year, in light of rising inflation and increase in demand for local properties from foreigners, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai.

“Inflation in 2010 stood at 2.2% and was at 2.4% in the first two months of this year. We expect it to be higher this year due to escalating food and oil prices,” he said after the launch of the National Property Information Centre's (Napic) property market report 2010 yesterday.

Lim also said many foreigners were looking to purchase property here because the prices of properties were cheaper than in neighbouring countries such as Singapore.

“And Malaysia, because of the ETP (Economic Transformation Programme) has attracted a number of investments from overseas. Investments last year were four times higher than 2009.

“We also expect more foreign companies to set up base here. Our Islamic banking is No. 1 in the world (so) all this will attract foreigners to come into Malaysia,” Lim said, adding that this would also contribute towards pushing up prices of properties in Malaysia.

He said rising oil prices would also cause prices to escalate.

“There's a lot of uncertainty in the Middle East. It's beyond our control and that (rising oil prices) will affect the other things,” he said adding that property prices in Malaysia were currently at a “manageable position.”

According to Napic's statistics, the Malaysian property market recorded 376,583 transactions in 2010 worth RM107.44bil.

Both the volume and value of transactions registered double-digit growth of 11.4% and 32.6% respectively from 338,089 transactions worth RM81.02bil in 2009.

Napic valuation director-general Datuk Abdullah Thalith Md Thani said 2010's (RM107.44bil) value was a new high for the Malaysian property market.

“In 2008 and 2009, we (Malaysian property market) suffered a bit. The volume of property transactions will go up (this year) but the margin will not be as high as last year.

“We had a good year last year because we rebounded from the sub-prime experience,” he said.

Abdullah added that Malaysia's fundamentals were still good, despite the uncertainties.

“People are worried about oil prices now but bear in mind, we are oil producers too. I will not say that property (by volume and value) will be better than 2010. There will be an increase. The question is the rate of increase.”

Napic expects the property market to remain promising in 2011, supported by various measures proposed under the Tenth Malaysia Plan and Budget 2011.

It said projects such as the Kuala Lumpur International Financial District, Mass Rapid Transit in Greater KL, the 100-storey Warisan Merdeka, the development of the Malaysian Rubber Board land in Sungai Buloh and the redevelopment of Pudu prison were expected to have positive spill-over effects.

Napic also said the Government's Skim Rumah Pertamaku to assist young adults to own homes below RM220,000, together with other incentives such as stamp duty exemption of 50% on instruments of transfer on a house not exceeding RM350,000 for first time buyers, would increase transaction volumes of homes in this price range.

“With the cessation of the Foreign Investment Committee's approval for the acquisition of properties by foreigners which took effect in June 2009, property investment in Malaysia will be more attractive to foreigners,” said Napic in a statement.

“Given that foreigners are only allowed to purchase commercial and residential properties priced above RM500,000, it is anticipated that more activities will be recorded in the high-end housing units in sought-after neighbourhoods,” it said.

By The Star

Tradewinds project to change KL skyline

A New "multi-billion ringgit" development on a plot of land where the Crowne Plaza and Kompleks Antarabangsa now sit is expected to be completed in 2016, according to an architect's website.

According to the GDP Architects' website, the project - dubbed the "Tradewinds Centre"- will involve a total gross area of 3.17 million sq m and on a plot ratio of 10.55.

The web page and the artist's impression were, however, removed from the website late yesterday evening.

"The Tradewinds Centre explicitly seeks to establish itself in the international arena of great financial developments. The Tradewinds project offers Kuala Lumpur many exciting features that will enhance and expand the city's growing modern qualities, similar to Rockefeller Center for New York or Roppongi Hills for Tokyo," the website said.

The development, to be carried out by Tradewinds Corp Bhd, will encompass four towers and be built on a 2.79ha plot along Jalan Sultan Ismail.

These towers will each have 60 storeys, 55 storeys, 14 storeys and eight storeys. They will house offices, serviced apartments, retail and a medical centre.

GDP added that the development will be vibrant and active at all times through its complex programme mix.

"Its signature profile will greatly contribute to the overall composition of the city skyline. Its large scale and memorable public plaza unites neighbourhoods in the urban fabric, creating a system of pedestrian friendly movement that is integrated with the public transportation system," GDP added.

The architecture of the buildings establishes connections with traditions of Kuala Lumpur's rich history by linking Islamic pattern making to its modern exterior design.

Its sustainable strategy will make the building a leader in environmental design, it said. The entire centre will have a total of 2,888 carparks.

However, it is understood that some changes may be made to the plan.

By Business Times

Residential property led market last year

PETALING JAYA: The residential property sub-sector dominated the overall property market in 2010, capturing 60.2% of total volume and 47.1% of the value of transactions, according to the National Property Information Centre’s (Napic) property market report 2010.

The year saw 226,874 residential property transactions worth RM50.65bil, with volume and value recording 7.2% and 21% increases respectively compared with 2009.

In terms of pricing, the Malaysian All House Price Index surged by 8.9 points to 140.7 points against 131.8 points registered in 2009.

“Correspondingly, the price of the ‘average house’ moved to RM199,636 from RM184,574 in the fourth quarter of 2009,” said Napic.

Kuala Lumpur had the highest price level in the country at RM430,163. Selangor and Sarawak followed with RM301,443 and RM253.391 respectively.

Affordable houses below RM150,000 remained in demand, evident from the 57.1% representation of total residential transactions, said Napic, adding that houses within the price range of RM100,000 to RM150,000 formed the largest portion, accounting for 17.3% (39,360 transactions) of the total.

Units priced between RM250,000 and RM500,000 were the second most active price bracket, accounting for 14.9% (33,739 transactions).

For high-end housing units priced above RM500,000, there were 16,782 transactions from 12,122 transactions in 2009. Selangor accounted for 7,726 transactions, followed by Kuala Lumpur with 4,996 transactions.

Terraced units formed 56.1% (26,774 units) of newly launched houses, comprising 12,429 single-storey terraces and 14,345 units of two- to three-storey terraces. Condominium and apartment units made up 14.2% (6,793 units) of total launches.

Residential overhang increased marginally to 23,133 units in 2010 from 22,592 units a year earlier. Value rose to RM4.21bil from RM3.68bil previously, partly attributed to the increased number of launches in 2010.

By price range, most of the overhang units were priced below RM150,000.

Construction activity in the residential sub-sector showed cautious behaviour from developers. The review period witnessed 95,938 completions compared with 103,335 units registered in 2009.

Housing units that began construction decreased marginally by 2.9% to 84,210 (from 86,743 units in 2009). New planned supply reduced by 5% to 76,306 units from 80,283 units in 2009.

Shop sub-sector

This sub-sector remained the most dominant contributor to commercial property activities, accounting for 62.1% of total volume. The review period recorded 24,731 shop transactions worth RM12.32bil, said Napic.

The volume and value of transactions increased by 11.9% and 31% respectively compared with 2009 (22,107 transactions worth RM9.41bil).

As at year-end, overhangs increased to 5,550 units (2009: 5,265 units) but lower value (RM1.67bil in 2010 compared with RM1.82bil in 2009).

“The unsold under construction and not constructed units increased to 4,803 and 1,224 units respectively from 4,685 and 1,072 units respectively in 2009.

On the supply front, construction activity in the shop-sub sector recorded mixed performance.

“There were 7,721 units that completed construction under the review period and this accounted for a 14.4% decrease (2009: 9,025 units).

“On a positive note, starts and new planned supply registered 39.7% and 11.5% increases to 7,823 and 7,924 units respectively,” said Napic.

Shopping complex sub-sector

The retail market continued to record substantial amount of take-up at 268,027 sq m (2009: 269,504 sq m).

With the exception of Kedah (-11,545 sq m) and Pahang (-11,349 sq m), all other states registered positive take up.

Malacca had the highest take-up space of 92,880 sq m, followed by Selangor and Johor with 48,916 sq m and 34, 977 sq m respectively.

The national occupancy rate reduced marginally to 80.2% in 2010 from 81.5% a year earlier. As at year-end 2010, the country had nearly 2.09 million sq m of space available for occupation.

The future supply was ample with 94 complexes (1.73 million sq m) in the incoming supply and another 65 complexes (1.65 million sq m) in the planned supply.

By The Star

Occupancy of purpose-built office sub-sector moderates

PETALING JAYA: Occupancy rate for purpose-built office sub-sector moderated to record 84.1% during the year compared with 85.2% in 2009.

The take-up space was lower at 180,556 sq m (2009: 519,244 sq m).

Kuala Lumpur led with the highest take-up of 68,996 sq m, followed by Malacca (46,121 sq m) and Perak (37,156 sq m), according to the National Property Information Centre’s (Napic) property market report 2010.

Four states recorded negative take-up, including Selangor (minus 5,025 sq m).

On the supply front, the market showed mixed performance. Completions dropped to 431,450 sq m (2009: 568,244 sq m) but starts increased substantially by more than four-fold to 603,355 sq m (2009: 142,992 sq m).

New planned supply contracted to 201,423 sq m (2009: 328,185 sq m). As at year-end, the total existing supply of office space in the country stood at 16.56 million sq m offered by 2,227 buildings.

The industrial property sub-sector was the least active, contributing 2.6% to the overall market activity. There were 9,838 transactions worth RM9.83bil in 2010, with volume increasing 22.1% from 8,059 transactions in 2009.

Terraced factory/warehouse was the most favoured property type with 3,359 transactions worth RM1.19bil. The figure contributed 34.1% to the market volume. Vacant plots followed suit by forming another 32% (3,148 transactions).

By price range, industrial units priced between RM250,000 and RM500,000 remained the most sought after, as indicated by its 26.6% share (2,616 transactions) of total industrial transactions, said Napic.

Selangor remained the nation’s largest contributor with 3,124 transactions, followed by Johor with 1,518 transactions.

On the construction front, there were lower completions (595 units) and starts (683 units) from 1,092 and 703 units respectively in 2009.

However, new planned supply recorded increased activity with 872 units (2009: 562 units).

Semi-detached units dominated with 50.4% (300 units) of completions and 49.4% (315 units) of starts, while terrace units dominated with 43.1% (376 units) of the new planned supply.

The country had 93,139 existing industrial units with another 7,654 units incoming supply and 22,289 units in planned supply.

The agricultural property sub-sector was the second-most prominent sub-sector, registering 21.5% (81,030 transactions worth RM11.38bil) of total volume of transactions.

The volume increased by 16.8% in 2010 while the value recorded a higher growth of 36.4% from a year earlier. Perak led the agricultural sub-sector, accounting for 17.6% (14,256 transactions) of the country’s total volume of transactions.

Johor and Sarawak followed with 16% (12,962 transactions) and 15.2% (12,329 transactions) respectively.

By type, vacant agricultural land remained the most actively transacted with a 42.8% (34,682 transactions) of market share.

Oil palm land followed at 16.7% (13,528 transactions), rubber land 14.5% (11,765 transactions) and paddy land 11.4% (9,266 transactions).

The leisure property sub-sector showed a lacklustre performance despite increased tourist arrivals. For the year, 24.6 million tourist arrivals were recorded which noted a 4.2% growth against 2009 (23.6 million).

However, average occupancy of three to five-star hotels declined to 53.1% compared with 55.6% recorded in 2009.

During the year, six new hotels were completed to offer another 1,028 rooms to the market (2009: 19 hotels; 2,534 rooms).

By The Star

Malaysia home prices higher by 8.2pc

Average Malaysian home prices were 8.2 per cent higher from a year earlier in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to a report by the country’s Finance Ministry today.

Prices averaged RM199,636 in the three months ended December 2010, compared with RM184,574 during the same period in 2009.

By Bloomberg

Mah Sing Group wins Four Prestigious Asia Pacific Property Awards

The Asia Pacific Property Awards 2011 in association with Bloomberg Television have just been judged and Mah Sing Group has been informed that it is amongst the winning companies.

Successful entrants have been invited to attend a high profile gala presentation dinner at the Longemont Hotel Shanghai on May 31. Mah Sing Group will then discover whether the company has won a five-star or highly commended award in the categories of Best Mixed-Use Development for its Southbay City in Penang project, Best Industrial Development for its i-Parc3 at Bukit Jelutong project, Best Retail Development for its Star Avenue at Damansara project and Best Website.

Group managing director Tan Sri Datuk Sri Leong Hoy Kum, and group chief executive said of the awards, “We are very pleased that our projects have been shortlisted to be among the best in Asia Pacific. Last year our residential projects won three awards, and this year, our commercial and industrial projects have been recognised for their outstanding concepts and design. Being one of Malaysia’s most diversified property developer, this recognition is a strong testament to the high quality that we place on each of our project. We also place high emphasis on communicating with our stakeholders though various channels, and thus we are very pleased that our website has been recognised to be among the crème of the crème in the Asia Pacific region. ”

The event is part of the long established International Property Awards and its award winners’ logo is recognised as a symbol of excellence throughout the global industry. Attaining one of these coveted awards is indisputable evidence that Mah Sing Group is capable of beating some exceedingly strong contenders within the highly competitive Asia Pacific property arena.

Later this year, the highest scoring winners from the Asia Pacific Property Awards will compete against other winning companies from Europe, Africa, the Americas and Arabia to find the ultimate World’s Best in each category. The Asia Pacific region has an enviable record of achievement at international level, having scooped seven World’s Best awards in the finals of both 2009 and 2010. No doubt the property industry will be watching and waiting to see if this record number of international wins can be matched or even beaten in 2011.

The judging panel is chaired by Lord Bates of Langbaurgh and consists of more than 60 professionals whose collective knowledge of the property industry is unsurpassed by any other property awards. This year’s judges include UK account manager of Google James Bacon; group chief executive of the National Federation of Property professionals Peter Bolton King; the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) David Dalby; and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Mike McNamara.

By The Star

GuocoLand Malaysia launches final release of 66 bungalow lots in Emerald

A dream bungalow, built and designed to the desired needs, is no longer wishful thinking for discerning home buyers. Enter GuocoLand Malaysia’s latest offering of bungalow lots nestled in the choicest location of the Emerald enclave in Rawang.

The Peridot Hilltop Residence, surrounded by lush landscaping and perched up to 250 ft above sea level, offers 66 bungalow lots of various sizes with security features, ranging between 5,200sq ft and 10,700sq ft, and priced from about RM350,000 to RM910,000.

The launch of the low-density Peridot Hilltop Residence comes on the back of the recent successful launch of the Amberley semi-detached parkhomes and Coral double-storey terrace homes.

Emerald, developed by GuocoLand (Malaysia) Bhd, has emerged as one of most sought-after townships in Rawang. A new Chinese school and a new AEON shopping mall, due for completion by the year-end, are expected to add more value to the thriving township.

GuocoLand Malaysia managing director Yeow Wai Siaw said the Peridot Hilltop Residence offers an attractive long term investment with promising growth potential and wealth creation opportunities given the scarcity of freehold bungalow lots in the Klang Valley.

“It is our final release of bungalow lots (in Peridot) and the timing could not be better to own an exclusive piece of prime freehold land. We are offering appropriate land sizes of up to 10,700sq ft for our buyers to build two or three-storey luxury bungalows and enjoy maximum privacy,” he added.

Yeow also said the Chinese school together with the shopping centre, the upgrading of infrastructure facilities – the flyover at Jalan Rawang and Jalan Batu Arang, and expansion of Jalan Batu Arang – would reinforce the appeal of the Emerald enclave.

GuocoLand Malaysia, the property arm of the Hong Leong Group, will launch the Peridot Hilltop Residence, priced from RM65 to RM85 per sq ft, at the Emerald Sales Gallery on Saturday (April 23). There will be an early bird discount of 10 per cent for bookings made before April 30, 2011.

Apart from excellent infrastructure, Emerald enjoys good accessibility to Kuala Lumpur and surrounding areas via the North-South Highway, New Klang Valley Expressway and the Guthrie Corridor Expressway.

Emerald is located within easy reach from Rawang and its commercial hub, a 20-minute drive from the Jalan Duta toll. As an established town, Rawang has all the essential amenities including banks, post-office, restaurants, hypermarkets, a fresh produce market and a KTM Komuter station.

By The Star

Township and niche projects for UMLand

Pee Tong Lim (left) exchanging documents with Ng Boon Yew. Looking on are Johor state investment centre general manager Mohamed Basir Mohamed Sali (second from left) and Singapore consulate-general in Johor Baru Lim Hong Huai.

PASIR GUDANG: United Malayan Land Bhd (UMLand) plans to focus on townships and the niche property development in view of the market demand for such properties.

Chief executive officer Pee Tong Lim said the two segments of properties had their own clienteles and the company would customised the developments to cater to their needs.

He said new growth areas would require integrated township developments offering affordable houses while the affluent would go for niche properties.

“The company sees good prospects in both segments and will continue to explore the opportunities available,’’ Pee told a press conference after the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between UMLand’s wholly-owned subsidiary Seri Alam Properties Sdn Bhd and Raffles Campus Pte Ltd (RCPL) which was represented by its chairman and chief executive officer Ng Boon Yew yesterday.

Pee said the company was currently developing three integrated township projects – Bandar Seri Alam and Taman Seri Austin in Johor and Bandar Seri Putra in Bangi, Selangor.

It had completed three high-end residential serviced apartments and condominiums namely Seri Bukit Ceylon at Jalan Bukit Ceylon, Suasana Sentral Loft at KL Sentral and Suasana Bangsar.

“We will be launching our niche project in the Johor Baru along Jalan Wong Ah Fook this year,’’ he said.

The project sited on two parcels of land next to Wisma Lembaga Kependudukan Malaysia building would consist of a hotel tower and a serviced apartment block.

Separately, Pee said an integrated transportation hub would be built at Bandar Seri Alam township here to be linked with the proposed 100km intra-city commuter for Iskandar Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Ng said RCPL would invest RM35mil to build Raffles International School on a 6.07ha site in Bandar Seri Alam township and it would be the company’s first international school project in Malaysia.

He said the first intake of students from kindergarten to high school would be done in the third-quarter of 2013.

By The Star

UEM Land is strong FBM KLCI candidate

UEM Land is a strong candidate for inclusion as an index component of the FBM KLCI being the largest property stock on Bursa Malaysia by market capitalisation and landbank size now, OSK Research says.

It said that despite the company's rather premium valuation against its peers, the stock's potential inclusion into the barometer and positive news flow from Iskandar region would give the boost for an upward rerating.

The acquisition of Sunrise which was completed in February, boosted UEM Land's market capitalisation to about RM11 billion.

"Once included as one of the index components, it will be the only pure property stock in the index.

"It will raise the company''s profile and visibility, and subsequently justify its premium valuation given that the FBM KLCI top 30 stocks are typically used as a benchmark portfolio," OSK said in its Malaysia Equity Investment Research Daily today.

UEM Land is the flagship company for the real estate investment and development businesses of UEM Group, which is a wholly-owned by Khazanah Nasional, the government's investment holding company.

OSK said UEM Land was a good proxy to the government's strategy to propel the domestic economy towards high income status, particularly under the Economic Transformation Programme.

Due to its size and the growth prospects, the company's liquidity was the highest among the listed property stocks as foreign and local institutional interest on the stock had picked up, it added.

By Bernama

Concessionaire: Second bridge will be completed by November 2013

The second Penang Bridge is 47.55% completed as of March.

The project is however 2.85% behind the 50.4% scheduled progress.

State Public Works, Utilities and Transportation Committee chairman Lim Hock Seng said concession holder Jambatan Kedua Sdn Bhd (JKSB) had assured the state government that it would catch up with the scheduled completion of the 24km bridge slated for November 2013.

Construction works on the bridge started in late November 2008.

Lim also said over 700 workers were working round the clock at the United Engineers Malaysia (UEM) segmental box girder plant in Batu Kawan to produce 8,092 units of segmental box girders for the bridge.

“They have already moulded 987 units. A total of 28 units are already fixed on-site out in the sea with 14 of them on each side of the bridge.

“Besides that, piling works are 84% completed while the building of pile caps and columns are 55% and 45% completed respectively,” he said during a visit to the plant yesterday.

Lim added that the two toll plaza buildings, to be located in Batu Kawan, were still on the design board.

“We will also implement a green concept for the package to be environmental friendly,” he added.

Buildcast Sdn Bhd (a wholly-owned subsidiary of UEM Builders Bhd) production manager Anuar Abdul said there were 22 moulds and three factories at the segment casting plant.

“Between 12 and 14 pieces of segmental box girders are produced in a day and the process is a tedious one,” he said.

The RM4.5bil second bridge project comprises three main packages — construction of the sub-structure by CHEC Construction Sdn Bhd (the local arm of China Harbour Engineering Co Ltd), casting of the segmental box girder by UEM Builders Bhd, and construction of the Batu Kawan and Batu Maung exit and entry points and trumpet interchange by Cergas Murni, IJM Construction and HRA Teguh.

The bridge, which will link Batu Kawan in Seberang Prai to Batu Maung on Penang island, is poised to be the longest bridge in the country and Southeast Asia.

By The Star

Residential property prices to grow by 10pc

Residential property prices are expected to grow 10 per cent this year given the rebound in transaction volume and higher replacement costs, AmResearch says.

The research unit of the AmInvestment Bank group said its previous forecast was a growth of five per cent.

It said replacement costs were on the rise due to escalating land cost as well arising prices of building materials from timber, aluminium, cement to steel.

The recent aggressive bids for land surrounding mature neighbourhoods would solidify the strong pricing trends as land traditionally accounted for between 25 and 30 per cent of residential prices, it said in a research report today.

"The expected reacceleration in residential prices would also be preceded by a sustained expansion in transaction volume, which is already underway now," it said.

It said developers had revealed that demand rebounded strongly in the past month as evident from the strong response to recent launches.

"We reaffirm our overweight stance on the property sector with SP Setia and IJM Land as our deep convictions buys," the research house said, raising its fair value for SP Setia from RM7.38 to RM8.10 and IJM Land from RM3.88 to RM4.00 per share.

By Bernama

Segments of hotel sector seen underserved

PETALING JAYA: Although the supply of hotel rooms in Kuala Lumpur is quite adequate, property consultants say some segments of the market are still underserved.

As of 2010, the total supply of 3- to 5- star hotel rooms in Kuala Lumpur stood at 23,972, of which 5-star rooms accounted for 50%.

Zerin Properties chief executive officer Previndran Singhe said the entry of international brands of the likes of Fairmont, W, Four Seasons, Conrad, Bulgari and MGM would augur well for the market.

“There is also room for limited service hotels or branded budget hotels such as Tune Hotels and Holiday Inn Express; ethnic hotels like India's Taj and Oberoi; eco-tourism products at all luxury levels; and limited serviced apartments in the likes of Citadines,” Previndran told StarBiz.

The supply of true blue serviced residences was also limited, he said, adding that many of them were actually live-in apartments.

CB Richard Ellis (Malaysia) vice-president research, Nabeel Hussain, said there were very few internationally-branded three-star hotel chains within Kuala Lumpur, and some of the larger serviced apartment operators, such as Oakwood, were absent from the market as well. A number of new hotel projects are under development and the most anticipated include the new Grand Hyatt, scheduled to be completed next year, and the St Regis in KL Sentral, scheduled for completion in 2014.

Also in the pipeline are properties managed by All Seasons and Hilton's Garden Inn, two internationally-known budget hotel brands.

Nabeel said a number of the large international groups, such as Accor, Hilton and Starwood, have a significant presence in Kuala Lumpur and appear to be looking to increase their hotel portfolio.

On hotel room rates, Previndran said rates in the luxury sector were still underperforming and were expected to increase.

“As globalisation sets in further, borders will be blurred and we will see parity setting in with our neighbours,” he pointed out.

Nabeel said generally, any increase in hotel room rates needed to start with the top-end properties and anticipated that properties such as the Grand Hyatt would set a new benchmark for the top end of the market.

“At the moment, Kuala Lumpur has some of the lowest room rates for five-star properties in the region,” he added.

In its latest quarterly report on Kuala Lumpur's hospitality market, CB Richard Ellis Research said drivers for increased business and tourism spending might come from an improving economy (2011 GDP growth is projected to be 6%-6.5%) and a number of new initiatives being considered by the government.

It said the opening of the Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar (Accor's largest hotel in Southeast Asia with 515 rooms) later this year and the Grand Hyatt in 2012 might lift rates at the upper-end of the market, which could then have a knock-on effect in the 3- and 4-star hotel categories and also the service apartment segment, which competes for many of the same customers.

The luxury segment of the hospitality market, comprising mostly 5-star hotels, recovered in 2010 as full-year average occupancy for 5-star hotels reached 68%, up from 2009's 58%.

CB Richard Ellis said although average room rates were lower in 2010 than in 2009, the net effect was positive, as revenue per average room (RevPAR) for this segment was RM224 in 2010 compared with RM196 in 2009, an increase of 14%.

In fact, RevPAR for all three segments of the market 3-star, 4-star and 5-star - improved in 2010.

Knight Frank Research said supported by concerted government efforts to attract more foreign tourists through innovative tourism packages and products, the hospitality sector was expected to continue to grow steadily into the first half of 2011.

It added that under Budget 2011, an allocation of RM85mil has been made for the provision of infrastructure facilities to facilitate construction of hotels and resorts in remote areas.

Another RM50mil allocation is to build covered walkways in the KLCC-Bukit Bintang area.

By The Star

Maybank S'pore starts 2 home loan plans

SINGAPORE -- Maybank Singapore today launched two innovative home loan packages, the Hybrid Rate Home Loan and the Ceiling Rate Home Loan.

While the Hybrid Rate Home Loan marries both the floating and fixed rates, it differs from the traditional home loan structure in which interest rates are fixed for the first year and float thereafter.

Pegged in the first year to the three-month Singapore Interbank Offered Rate, customers can take advantage of the current low interbank rates now, and thereafter enjoy the certainty of fixed rates in the subsequent second or second and third years.

"This is a radical move from what the market now offers," said Helen Neo, the bank's head of consumer banking, at the launch here.

By Bernama

SP Setia gains on fair value upgrade

SP Setia Bhd, Malaysia’s biggest property developer, rose to a three-month high in Kuala Lumpur trading after AmResearch Sdn Bhd raised the stock’s fair value to reflect higher real estate prices and earnings growth prospects.

The stock gained 2.3 per cent to RM6.67 at 10.18 am local time, set for its highest close since January 17.

The fair value for SP Setia was increased to RM8.10 from RM7.38, Benny Chew, an analyst at AmResearch, wrote in a report today.

By Bloomberg

More Chinese cities see home prices slip

More Chinese cities saw the cost of new homes fall in March, official data showed on Monday, leading to suggestions that government moves to cool the real estate market could be having an impact.

The National Bureau of Statistics data, which came a day after authorities moved to further limit banks' lending, showed prices of new builds were lower in 12 of the 70 major cities tracked in March compared with February.

Eight cities had seen prices decline in February, while just three did so in January.Home prices were unchanged in eight cities in March, while 29 cities posted gains smaller than those seen in February.

Among major cities, Beijing prices were unchanged, while Shanghai saw a scant 0.2 percent rise, the statistics bureau said.

However, analysts said the data was unlikely to spell an end to government efforts to tamp down the market over the near term.

"The easing monthly property price data showed the administrative measures are having effect," said Chen Sheng, vice president of the China Index Academy, a property research institution.

"But authorities will not soften their stance, so as to prevent any possible price rebound.

"China has introduced a number of measures to cool the market since late 2009, including bans on buying second homes in some cities, while cities such as Shanghai and Chongqing have introduced trial property taxes.

On Sunday the central bank raised the amount of money banks must keep in reserve, effectively cutting their lending power, as it tries to rein in inflation, which last month hit its highest level since July 2008.

It has also raised interest rates four times since October.Premier Wen Jiabao told China's legislature last month the government would ramp up a campaign to build affordable housing in a bid to head off growing public concern over rising prices.

The March data marked the third monthly survey since the government scrapped a nationwide property index and switched to publishing the date for individual cities.

The old method, which gave an average of prices nationwide, had been criticised by some as understating price growth by diluting large spikes in big cities with tamer changes in smaller ones.

By AFP

Royal Wedding a boon for London home owners

LONDON: London home owners are set to rake in about 114 million euros from rental income over the weekend of William and Kate's royal wedding.

Asian, American and other international visitors are prepared to pay top prices for a room, even if it is in someone's home.

London's shortage of hotels has prompted royal wedding fans to look for alternative places to stay, raising questions over the city's accommodation needs during the Olympics.

Property experts said London's steep hotel prices and shortage of rooms have prompted a 40 per cent spike in demand.

By Business Times