Oversupply of residential property due to speculation may slow down market

Jack | September 10, 2012 | 0 Comments

PETALING JAYA: The secondary residential property market could face a slowdown in transactions within the next six to 12 months due to oversupply of properties caused by speculative buyers.

Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) deputy president Siva Shanker said “secondary properties in secondary locations,” namely apartments within the RM150,000 to RM300,000 price range, could be difficult to sell as an oversupply situation has resulted.

“A lot of these properties were sold in the last two to three years and developers made a roaring business out of it. However, they’re now struggling a bit,” he told StarBiz in an interview.

“A lot of people in the past would have bought these properties for speculation,” said Siva.

He said many people bought these properties with the sole intention of selling them immediately once the development was completed.

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EPF buying RRI land for RM2.28bil for Kwasa Damansara township

Jack | September 2, 2012 | 0 Comments

PETALING JAYA: Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) wholly-owned subsidiary Kwasa Land Sdn Bhd is acquiring the 2,330 acres of Rubber Research Institute (RRI) land in Sungai Buloh from the Malaysian Rubber Board for RM2.28bil or RM22.50 per sq ft, thus confirming reports that the land will cost more than RM2bil.

The land, to be known as Kwasa Damansara, would have a development period spanning 10 to 15 years and would be transformed into a township with a mix of residential and commercial properties, infrastructure and public amenities for an expected population of 150,000.

Kwasa Land’s chairman Tan Sri Samsudin Osman said in a statement that the township would “incorporate plans that are befitting of a city replete with infrastructure and modern facilities both residential and commercial that aim to serve the entire Damansara region, if not the Klang Valley.”

Kwasa Land, tasked as the master developer, would be calling for a process to pre-qualify developers for projects in the township. Earlier reports quoting sources had said that this would likely involve tendering out parcels of between 100 acres and 500 acres.

“We will soon be calling for the pre-qualification of developers to participate in the creation and building of an iconic township that will be the toast of the town in the coming years,” Samsudin said.

He said the master plan was now in an advanced stage and was being finalised for submission to the Selangor State Planning Committee for approval as development is expected to commence next year.

Sources have also said the pre-qualification process would start soon but this, according to observers, would take time as EPF and Kwasa Land must still come up with a master plan acceptable to the local authority, which hopefully would include provisions to accommodate changes in the future.

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Kwasa Damansara to be a hive of activity for developers soon

Jack | September 2, 2012 | 0 Comments

PROPERTY developers and construction firms will be looking forward to the details of the pre-qualification process for the Rubber Research Institute (RRI) land in Sungai Buloh, following the finalisation of the sale of this real estate to the Employees Provident Fund’s (EPF) subsidiaryKwasa Land Sdn Bhd.

Kwasa Land, the master developer, acquired 2,330 acres out of the approximately 3,000 acres of RRI land from the Malaysian Rubber Board for RM2.28bil or RM22.50 per sq ft, confirming speculation of recent months that the land will be acquired for more than RM2bil.

This land will be turned into the township of Kwasa Damansara, which will have a development period of up to 15 years and include a mix of residential and commercial properties, infrastructure and public amenities for an expected population of 150,000.

StarBizWeek understands that the terms and conditions of the pre-qualification process will be announced next week.

Who will be developing the township?

There was a lot of buzz when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razakproposed during Budget 2009 about the development or redevelopment of strategic parcels of government-owned land in and around the Klang Valley, including in Kuala Lumpur, as part of several mega-projects aimed at boosting the economy.

The land, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Petaling Jaya and Shah Alam city councils, has a mixture of both freehold and leasehold parcels with the southern portion being the most valuable as it adjoins the upmarket Tropicana Golf & Country Resort.

Property valuers say that any premium to the tender price will depend on a number of factors including, as KGV-Lambert Smith Hampton (M) Sdn Bhd executive director (valuation) Anthony Chua points out, whether the land is parcelled out as converted or unconverted land.

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I&P sees another good year

Jack | September 2, 2012 | 0 Comments

Property developer I&P Group Sdn Bhd is on track to launch properties with a combined gross development value (GDV) of RM3bil this year, says its group managing director Datuk Jamaludin Osman.

He tells StarBizWeek that sales in 2012 will be driven by new property launches in Bandar
The group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB). Kinrara, Alam Damai, Alam Impian, Alam Sari, Temasya Glenmarie and Bandar Baru Seri Petaling in the Klang Valley as well as Taman Pelangi Indah, Taman Rinting and Taman Perling in Johor.

Jamaludin says in 2012, the group hopes to do better than the RM1.4bil in revenue it recorded last year.

“We are on track. Our 2012 turnover has crossed the halfway mark (of last year’s revenue) to date,” says Jamaludin.

In the final quarter of this year, the group is planning to launch three-storey terrace houses and apartments at its freehold 200-acre Temasya Glenmarie mixed development in Shah Alam.

“The exclusive apartments with limited units has a view of the golf course.

“They will be competitively priced and be value for money”, says Jamaludin.

It should be noted that at Temasya Glenmarie, I&P has recorded impressive take-up rates for its launch of 154 units of Citra double-storey superlink and 60 units of Anggun double-storey semi-detached homes in March this year.

Observers have described the buying response to the launch as “overwhelming”, with a few thousand people turning up to enter the ballot for the units, which were priced from RM975,888 to RM3.55mil.

In September, the group will offer additional three and four-storey shop offices in Bandar Baru Seri Petaling.

The three and four-storey shop offices, with built-ups ranging from 4,498 sq ft to 11,673 sq ft, will have price tags starting from RM3mil.

Jamaludin is expecting a strong response to the Zone J8 shop offices launch, based on the success of past launches of the group’s commercial units in Bandar Baru Seri Petaling.

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Dijaya Upcoming developments

Jack | September 2, 2012 | 0 Comments

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.

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The next stage of evolution for Dijaya

Jack | September 2, 2012 | 0 Comments

THERE are moments in a company that its direction and fortunes take a turn for the better. For Tan Sri Danny Tan Chee Sing and Dijaya Corp Bhd, its first metamorphosis took place over two decades ago.

Tan, a budding developer with his company Dijaya back then, had the good fortune to come across the opportunity to buy 1,000 acres of rubber land on the fringes of the upmarket Bandar Utama for a meagre RM2 per sq ft.

The nondescript land was slowly landscaped into undulating slopes with sprawling mansions called Tropicana Golf & Country Resort, creating a desirable address in Klang Valley that can rival the more famous and older Kenny Hills and Damansara Heights.

“I always believe in being flexible. With the Tropicana Golf & Country Club, I tell my people to always be flexible and try to understand our housebuyers’ needs. They spent so much money building their houses here. Let them build their 3- and 4-storey houses. If we can do something for them, let us do it,” says Tan, the CEO of Dijaya Corp.

In the process of having exclusive homes that are manned by help most consider a luxury, the value of the once rubber estate has grown dramatically.

Today, the land is said to be worth RM350 per sq ft.

“In those days, nobody wanted the Tropicana Golf & Country Club land. I bought it for RM2 per sq ft and today it is worth RM350 per sq ft. I should have kept it for myself!” laughs Tan.

But like most land that reach that sort of valuation, it is a signal of maturity.

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More Chinese cities record new home price increases

Jack | August 22, 2012 | 0 Comments

New home prices in more Chinese cities rose in July than in the previous month, the government said Saturday, amid cautious optimism the country’s property market may be bottoming out.

Prices in 50 out of the 70 Chinese cities tracked by the government increased in July from June, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

That represented a doubling from 25 in June.China has been taking steps to tighten its housing market for more than two years.

Measures have included prohibitions on buying second homes, raising minimum down-payments and imposing property taxes in certain areas.

The government, however, has also recently taken steps to boost the country’s slowing economy by cutting interest rates twice in quick succession and encouraging lending by reducing reserve requirements at banks.

Cutting interest rates reduces the cost of taking out a mortgage and can stimulate buying.Prices of new homes in another 11 cities were unchanged in July compared with 24 in June, statistics bureau said.

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