Property Hunter Magazine

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INNOVATIVE REAL ESTATE PART 2

The Treasure Hunt Of The Malaysian RE Missing Product

COVER STORY

KUCHING PARAGON, BATU LINTANG

HOT TOPIC

PH EXPO 2015 Targets Sarawak Market

ISSUE

66 RM9.50 (Incl. GST)

Tourism and Leisure Property Investment – New Trend in Sustainable Investment RM2.5 Billion For Sarawak Rural Development Three Public Housing In Sabah Delayed

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TM

Property Hunter is published by: Maxx Media (S) Sdn Bhd (1043783-T) Kota Kinabalu (HQ) Lot 4, 1st & 2nd Floor, Block A, Heritage Plaza, Jalan Lintas, 88300 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia E: info@maxxmedia.com.my T: +6088 719 787 F: +6088 728 387 Kuala Lumpur (Branch) Block K-5-7, No.2, Jalan Solaris, Solaris Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur E: vincent.chong@ek.com.my T: +603 7490 5707 HP: +6016 806 6009 Kuching (Branch) SL.16, E-Park Light Industrial Park, Jalan Bukit Kitang, Kuching, 93250 Sarawak, Malaysia

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Cover Story Naim Land

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Hot Topic PH Expo 2015 Targets Sarawak Market

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Feature Property Showcase Iskandar Waterfront

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Feature Property Showcase PJ Mid Town

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Feature Property Showcase Lumi Tropicana

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Sabah Property News

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Feature Property Event Gleneagles Kota Kinabalu

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Sarawak Property News

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Hot Topic Tourism Leisure And Property Investment

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Hot Topic Building Sabah’s Tourism And Leisure Property Market

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Feature Property Event Property Hunter Expo 2015 Kota Kinabalu

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Feature Property Event Gamuda Land Forays Into Sabah

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Feature Property Progress • PacifiCity • SP Setia

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West Malaysia Property News

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Contributor: Dr. Daniele Gambero Innovative Real Estate-Part 2

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Available monthly at leading bookstores and newsstands

CONTENT ISSUE 66

The publisher and editors give no representations and make no warranties, express, or implied, with responsibility of any of the material (including statistics, maps, articles, loan product tables, advertisements and advertising features) contained in this publication. The publisher and editors expressedly disclaim all responsibility for any errors in or omissions from the information contained in this publication, including all liability for any loss or damage suffered or incurred by any person as a result of or arising out of that person placing any reliance, weather whole or partial, upon the whole or any part of the contains of this publication. No correspondents will be entered into a relation to this publication by the publishers, editors or authors.

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International Property News

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Banking and Investment News

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Coffee Talk: kopiandproperty.com • Land prices, new projects and debts vs GDV • More land buying, even during current slow period?

• Using ‘bad debts’ to buy ‘good debts’?

• Perhaps marketing is getting more sophisticated.

• I worry about retirement because….

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Sabah Property Listing

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Sarawak Property Listing

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Sneak Peek of June 2015 Issue HOT TOPIC Criteria to Invest in the Right Commercial Property Do you use the same criteria checklist as investing in a residential property or is it a totally different ballhgame?

Find out what you need to know before investing in your first commercial property.

Peninsular Property Development Line-Up Featuring developers participating in the PH Sandakan Expo in June 2015.

Branded Property Development: Is East Malaysia Ready For It? Branded properties sit in the upper echeleon of property investment as it applies to only the wealthy. East Malaysia is not devoid of wealthy investors but is it ready for branded property development? Can branded property be the next investment opportunity to attract overseas investors?

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COVER STORY | Naim Land

Sapphire on the park @ Kuching Paragon

www.naim.com.my

SYNERGIZING UNPARALLELED INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES WITH SUSTAINABLE LIVING Naim is one of the leading township developers in Sarawak with flagship developments in Kuching, Miri and Bintulu. Its developments are planned and designed to generate unparalleled investment opportunities in Sarawak and to enhance the lives of the communities it creates. Built on the core value of ‘quality living – sustainable living’, Naim offers developments with sustainable investment potential by creating exciting and vibrant commercial and lifestyle districts as well as townships.

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apphire On The Park @ Kuching Paragon is an integrated development situated in the heart of Kuching city that raises a new style of living for the upscale market. With a total of 206 residential units built that hasbeen launched with a contemporary tropical minimalist concept that epitomizes resort and chic urban living, the Sapphire On The Park condominium development is in a class of its own.

Contemporary in design and complemented with a full range of modern amenities and multi-tiered security system, the project aims to provide exclusivity and relaxed luxury living. Its proximity to major shopping malls, schools, international universities, medical specialist centres and commercial / entertainment hubs is extremely appealing and is an address to be desired and coveted with the future developments upcoming in the Batu Lintang prime neighbourhood.

Tastefully designed units, where form integrates seamlessly with function, where details matter for your ultimate comfort. From your bedroom, living room to bathroom, this is your inner sanctum, your very own private retreat, your home.

It offers a range of built-ups suitable for singles, couples and families. With over 72,000 sq. ft. of lifestyle facilities from swimming pool, spa jets, kiddies’ pool and health and recreational rooms, to BBQ and panoramic viewing lounges, it is the perfect sanctuary for a lifestyle less ordinary.

Relax, recharge and rejuvenate at Sapphire On The Park.

The project is located at Jalan Batu Lintang, Kuching. It is easily accessible via the major thoroughfares of Jalan Batu Lintang and Jalan Rock. It is also a mere 10 minutes’ and 15 minutes’ drive from the heart of Kuching City and Kuching International Airport respectively, making it a prime location. Facilities such as hospital, schools

and Swinburne University are conveniently located within 8 minutes’ drive from here.

Sapphire On The Park @ Kuching Paragon is slated for completion in 2017.

KUCHING PARAGON, BATU LINTANG

082 - 416 288

Web: www.kuchingparagon.com.my Facebook: www.facebook.com/ KuchingParagon

SARAWAK MULTI-AWARD WINNING DEVELOPER Founded in 1993, Naim’s rise to become one of Malaysia’s leading developer-contractor has been meteoric. Listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia, Naim has built a reputation for itself through innovation, commitment and quality. With a longstanding record in integrated property development that combines residential, commercial and industrial properties with infrastructure and public amenities, Naim has successfully built more than 16,000 properties for the Sarawak community.

Excellent quality, timely delivery, value and customer service are the cornerstones of Naim’s existence which have resulted in laudable recognition in the form of quality, environment and industry awards it has won through the years.

Naim has firmly secured its position in the industry as the developer of choice with an outstanding impeccable range of property developments that embody the elements of timeless elegance, innovative design and sustainable living.

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KUCHING PARAGON, BATU LINTANG

Aerial View of Kuching Paragon Development

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COVER STORY | Naim Land

BINTULU PARAGON

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intulu Paragon is distinctly the largest and most contemporary integrated development to transform Bintulu. It will recreate the skyline with super stylish condominiums, skyscraper office towers and buildings of innovative design. Upon completion, it will be a self-contained hub replete with residential, commercial, retail and hospitality components.

Bintulu Paragon is complemented by an adjacent green lung, the proposed Bintulu Festival Park.

With modernity and greenery complementing each other, life, work and leisure experiences will be lifted to new heights.

SOUTHLAKE PERMYJAYA MIRI

The project is spread over 36 acres and will be developed in two phases. Integrating residential, business, retail and hospitality components, it is a one-stop hub where you can experience multifaceted lifestyle pursuits.

The well-rounded components of Bintulu Paragon have been designed with the comfort and convenience of its residents, tenants and visitors in mind to provide a work and lifestyle experience of exceptional quality and value.

The Peak, a lofty 34-storey condominium with units ranging from 453 sqft to 1,592 sqft is the quintessential luxury residence with top notch facilities including adult swimming pool, kids’ pool and playground, gazebo, look-out point, BBQ area, indoor gym, function hall, and covered dropoff entrance for the convenience of residents and visitors. Adjacent to the condominium is the 3-storey Street Mall and 6-storey SOVO to cater to the business, retail, leisure and entertainment segments of the development.

Its super-prime location and access to major transportation networks and Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) has increased the investment potential of Bintulu Paragon and has made it one of the most highly anticipated integrated developments in Sarawak.

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outhlake Permyjaya Miri is located in Bandar Baru Permyjaya, one of the fastest growing townships in Sarawak. Southlake is Miri’s first luxury lakeside development located within the 3,300-acre mixed development township that is strategically located just minutes from Miri City, Lutong Town (petroleum industry hub), Curtin University of Technology Sarawak and the Brunei customs checkpoint. This modern township offers

vibrant community living in an environment complemented with full-fledged amenities.

Spanning over 450 acres, SouthLake is a chic upmarket enclave based on an appreciation for the environment, security and healthy community living. SouthLake is the crème de la crème of the township and boasts elite lifestyle features such as its exclusive thematic precinct-based zones and clubhouse with its recreational and wellness facilities, a 30-acre

scenic lake and lush landscape for outdoor activities, guarded precincts and smartsecurity features for a peace of mind, and high speed broadband ready homes for seamless connectivity. Here lies a sanctuary for the soul where the joys of living are equalled by the stunningly beautiful surroundings.

Embrace the unrivalled experience of lakeside living at Southlake Permyjaya Miri.

Completion date is estimated to be in 2030.

086 - 339 666

Web: www.bintuluparagon.com.my Facebook: www.facebook.com/ BintuluParagon

085 - 491 000

Web: www.southlake.com.my Facebook: www.facebook.com/ SouthlakePermyjaya

Artist Impression of SouthLake Lakeside Artist Impression Of Bintulu Paragon Centre Court

Precinct-based guarded community

Clubhouse

30-acres Scenetic Lake

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Artist Impression of Bintulu Paragon

Artist Impression of SouthLake Permyjaya

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HOT TOPIC | PH Expo 2015 Targets Sarawak Market

PH EXPO 2015 Targets Sarawak Market PH Expo 2015, East Malaysia’s biggest property expo will be in Sarawak to showcase top quality properties from Malaysia and abroad starting with dates in Kuching (1 – 3 May) and Miri (22 – 24 May).

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The Park Residence

arawak has consistently produced trendsetting properties to meet the increased demand for well-planned, designedand constructed developmentsto satisfy their current lifestyle aspirations. The property investment culture has also evolved and consumers are now more discerning of their real estate options.

The PH Expo Series which initially focused on highlighting property developments in Sabah has now incorporated the rising potential of Sarawak as a significant property investment sector into its annual expo series. Three cities have been included into this year’s series namely Kuching, Miri and Sibu.

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Fusion Apartment

The 3-day Kuching expo will be held at CityONE Megamall and is opened to the public from 10am to 8pm daily. Household names in the local Sarawak property development industry will be among the leading exhibitors at the expo to preview their latest offerings such as Ibraco Berhad with its The Park Residence slated for completion in 2016. The 10-storey and 6-storey condominiums consist of 90 units and 88 units respectively and caters to the various lifestyles of its residents by offering a variety of three-bedroom, four-bedroom and penthouse units with each division adopting a slightly different feel and style.

Visitors will also get to view a range of properties by MJC City Development Sdn Bhd which includes SkyVilla

Residence, a high-rise condominium located in the charming and peaceful Batu Kawah New Township; Papillion Street Mall, the new landmark in MJC New Township and first street mall in Kuching with modern design, packed with branded and flagship shops; and One Residency, a gated and guarded community with limited 31 units of 1 ½-storey townhouse and 2-storey link house only in its up-coming premium phase.

Skyvilla Condominium

Properties in the fast developing gateway of Kota Samarahan will be represented by Regal Group with its Orchard Residences, a spacious and luxurious condominium with a unique living experience and environment.

Another exciting project by the group is 72 Residences, a luxurious resort style condominium in the prime area of Jalan Song with only 72 exclusive units available.

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HOT TOPIC | PH Expo 2015 Targets Sarawak Market

choices in the market there today. In the list are Fusion, APAD Australia Property and Development, and Handle Group. The sole exhibitor from the UK is Golden Sand.

The Property Talk series organized by PH Expo is a not-to-be-missed event during the Kuching expo. A specially invited panel of expert speakers will be giving free talks on the second and third day of the expo on various topics covering the legal, financial and practical aspects of property investments. Among the speakers are Enoch Khoo, Richard Oon, Faizul Ridzuan, Dr Daniele Gambero and Datuk Francis Goh.

Lakeview-Apartments

Other prominent developers such as Naim Land Sdn Bhd and Heng Leong Construction Sdn Bhd will be giving visitors something to be impressed about with their own selection of elite properties.

Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia properties will also be featured at the Kuching expo to open up opportunities for investment in the upcoming and more matured markets throughout Malaysia. SBC Corporation will be highlighting its high-end Peak Vista condominiums in the heart of Kota Kinabalu city with its commitment to exclusive resort lifestyle set against the backdrop of magnificent sea and mountain views.

Building facade

Exciting and fun activities will be held throughout the 3-day event such as children’s coloring competition, photo taking with popular superheroes Ironman and Bumblebee of Transformer fame, and an attractive 8D6N Tour Package to Shanghai for the winner of the lucky draw Grand Prize which is eligible for visitors who make a purchase during the expo.

PH EXPO MIRI The Miri expo will take place from 22 – 24 May at the Miri Indoor Stadium. Many of the primary exhibitors at the Kuching expo will be Miri too with Naim Land Sdn Bhd, MJC City Development Sdn Bhd, Homelite, Tenaga Seri Wangsa, Unique Harvests and SOP Property headlining the Sarawak exhibitors. HCK, Mah Sing and Citrus Properties will add to the Peninsular Malaysia list of Mulpha Land, Bandar Utama, TEE Land, D’Pristine, Brunsfield, OZ Properties, Meridin Properties and Newfields. Sabah properties will have a bigger presence in Miri with SBC, Kinsabina, PacifiCity, VC Bumijaya and Sara Timur while Australia properties will be represented by Handle Group, Trident Australia and Fusion.

For more information on PH Expo Kuching or PH Expo Miri, log on to www.propertyhunter.com.my or call +60 88 719 787.

Be on the look-out for well-established and sought after properties from Peninsular Malaysia to make an appearance with exhibitors including SkyWorld, Brunsfield, Meridin Properties, OZ Properties, D’Pristine, TEE Land, Greenland, Mulpha Land, KL Metro, Putra Nilai, Bandar Utama and Newfields to offer a variety of options to suit your needs and budget.

Several properties from Australia, a popular investment destination for Malaysians, will also be putting their best forward at the Kuching expo to give interested buyers and investors a closer look at top

The Peak Vista condominiums

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SABAH PROPERTY NEWS

Three Public Housing In Sabah Delayed SESB Denies Offer To Sell Company Government and Housing Ministry (KKTP) and related local authorities (PBT) was unsatisfactory for Pekan Kinarut and Taman Semarak projects.

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he delay in completing three Public Housing Projects (PPR) in Sabah has affected the target group from enjoying its benefits on time, according to the AuditorGeneral’s Report 2014 Series 1.

SABAH

PROPERTY NEWS

The three projects are Pekan Kinarut PPR in Papar; Kampung Semarak PPR in Tawau and Lintas Sabuga PPR in Sandakan involving 1,725 units at a cost of RM140.99 million.

Keep track of the latest property and real estate news plus reviews in the property market in Sabah

Staff Union Bids No To SESB Takeover well as the significant reduction of SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index).

Azhar on the other hand also questioned why there were no such initiatives from anybody when SESB faced financial difficulties in terms of operational cost and project development.

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SESB official website

abah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) Workers’ Union has strongly opposed the idea of management takeover

by Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (SHAREDA) or any private body.

SHAREDA is an association whose mission is to build properties while reaping huge amount of profit, he said, adding that it would be impossible for such association to take over the responsibility of SESB which is a government-run company.

In a statement by the union’s President, Azhar Datuk Haji My Ahmad has called SHAREDA’s intention to take over the company as absurd.

He said that it was strange that comments of a takeover were only heard after SESB had increased its tariff and received its infrastructure development project allocation as

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The union, he said is grateful for the assistance from the Federal and State Governments as well as from Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) which has faithfully rendered their assistance to SESB to ensure it could continue implementing its responsibilities and improve financially, in which TNB even has forked out millions of ringgit to help fund SESB costs.

He also expressed his confidence that the management and citizens of SESB will always endeavor to improve the quality of its services despite the numerous challenges faced.

Meanwhile, in response to SHAREDA blaming the Consumer Connection Charges (CCC) as the main contributing cause for housing prices to go up in Sabah, Azhar said that everyone is aware that house prices are baed on market speculation.

And he questioned how the three percent of CCC in the overall cost of development has caused the house price to double up.

Azhar was also quoted saying that SHAREDA should have used its ability to addressi financial issues to control the price of properties throughout the state.

He said that SHAREDA should not look merely at the weaknesses of other organisations, but instead show their capability by controlling the price of housing for the benefit of the people and prove that the cost of all types of houses will be reduced by 15 percent this year.

“Those three projects were completed with an extension of time (EOT), between 624 and 2,504 days.

“However the EOT approval resulted in delays in completing the projects and providing benefits to the target group since a project took more than six years from the original date of completion,” said the report.

Besides that, the quality of work done by the contractors is unsatisfactory, but corrective action has been done after the auditor’s visit and the observation report issued.

According to the report, some of the construction design approved by the superintending officer and executed by the contractor were impractical, incomplete and inappropriate.

“The tenant selection and the house fulfillment process conducted by the Sabah Local

“This was because the house fulfillment process was delayed and took over a year each from the date the National Housing Department (JPN) handed over the completed housing projects, 569 days for Pekan Kinarut PPR and 485 days for Taman Semarak PPR,” the report said.

The report recommended that Sabah and Sarawak region (WSS) and the Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) monitor and supervise the progress of work done by all contractors in order to ensure quality of work.

It also proposed JPN to refine all project specifications and designs in order to avoid further incomplete, inappropriate or impractical specifications resulting in additional government expenses.

JPN and KPKT should always improve coordination with related agencies to avoid delay in completion of the project.

The Sabah KKTP and PBT must continue to implement the tenant selection process and finalise the list earlier to enable immediate occupation by tenants right after the submission of PPR by the JPN. “KKTP Sabah and PBT also need to improve the period to finalise the tenant list to avoid negative perception from the public against services provided by the government,” it said.

There is also need to confirm whether the capital contribution received last year was 72 million ringgit as claimed by SESB or 180 million ringgit as what was revealed

by SHAREDA.

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SHAREDA President, Datuk Francis Goh

abah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (SHAREDA) allegations the top against management from Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) in previous media report is not true, explained SESB. The claim by SHAREDA President, Datuk Francis Goh was refuted by SESB’s Strategic Communication and Media (Corporate Service Division) Senior Manager, Sufian Abdul Ghani.

Through an online statement, Sufian said that SESB’s top management had not at any material time made any offer to SHAREDA or any other party to sell off SESB. To recap, Goh had revealed the top management of SESB actually made the offer to SHAREDA to take over the company, unknown to the Sabah Electricity Board Workers’ Union, during the arranged meeting with Green Technology and Water Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Maximus Ongkili.

The truth behind the information is extremely crucial, said Junz, as it would mean that SESB management is lying to the public and how could the unions still blindly support the management despite the lies.

Junz also stressed that SESB workers and engineers unions should make a stand on whether they supported capital contribution policy, and asked if the unions feel the capital contribution is indeed fair for Sabahans.

The unions are also urged to make SESB open up its accounts publicly as to justify that the current electricity charge is fair and to prove that SESB has not lied about the 72 million ringgit capital contribution.

On the other hand, Junz said that the State Government should look into a serious consideration to take back the utility company.

Meanwhile, in a related issue, Likas Assemblyman Junz Wong wanted the SESB union to help explain SESB’s doubts to Sabahans since the union firmly stood behind the management of SESB. Junz also expected the unions to clarify and prove to Sabahans that three percent computation of the capital charges accounting is indeed accurate.

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SABAH PROPERTY NEWS

Goh Eyed JV Between Sabah And Argentina In Hotel Industry building of hotels require large capital outlay, up to 300 million ringgit, pointing that banks in Malaysia were reluctant to approve loans for developers to build hotels.

The financial difficulties could be easily solved if there are Argentine investors willing to join venture with us, he was reported saying.

Datuk Francis Goh, CEO of Kinsabina Group of Companies

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he Embassy of Argentina in Kuala Lumpur is hoped to facilitate bilateral trade and business matching between Sabahan and Argentine entrepreneurs, especially in the hotel industry.

Datuk Francis Goh, the President of Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (SHAREDA) noted that Sabah is in lack of hotel rooms’ supply, with only 14 fourstar hotels and nine five-star hotels catering to the hospitality and tourism needs in the state since 1985.

As Argentina is famous for its beautiful beaches and villa, Goh said that perhaps the Argentinians could lend their expertise and views on property development in Sabah, adding that he was hoping for the Ambassador of the Argentine Republic in Malaysia, Maria Isabel Rendon could facilitate bilateral trade and organize visits to Sabah for business matching.

Earlier, Rendon and Minister / Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Argentina, Marcos A. Bednarski had visited Sabah United Chinese Chamber of Commerce (SUCCC).

On the other hand, he invited Argentine investors to invest in the hotel industry in Sabah as the

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Meanwhile, according to SHAREDA’s Property Development Annual Report 2014 and Market Outlook 2015, there are currently 12 new hotels in operation, under renovation or in the construction stage.

The 12 hotels will provide 1,878 hotel rooms for tourists. It is also reported that there will be as much as 5,965 hotel rooms available in Sabah in the next three years from three to five stars; comprising on-going hotel development, upcoming hotel development by SHAREDA members, governmentinitiated hotel and villa projects and upcoming villa development.

Foreigners, particularly the Argentinians are also welcomed to stay in Sabah under the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme.

Housing Affordability In Sabah Is Due To Price, Not Strict Loan - Bank Negara

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ank Negara has denied that the reason why it is difficult for low income groups in Sabah to own a house is because of stringent housing loan requirements imposed by banks but instead caused by the high prices of housing units in the market.

Deputy Governor of Bank Negara, Marzunisham Omar in a statement revealed that house purchase in Sabah last year had increased with a significant growth of 12.9 percent, which is a clear indication that bankers have continued to approve housing loans to buyers.

The existing regulations will not deter buyers from getting the financing they need if they are able to fulfil all the requirements satisfactorily. Banks on the other hand are unable to give out loans to those whose financial records or credentials indicate that they may face problems repaying their loans.

Marzunisham said the average house price in Sabah as of the third quarter of last year was RM419 000, lower compared to RM430 000 in Selangor and RM655 000 in Kuala Lumpur. Nonetheless, it is higher compared to the average house price in Penang, which was recorded to be RM360 000 for the same period.

very protective of bankers rather than helping property developers.

Bank Negara should have the banks loosen some of their loan requirements, which according to Goh, have made it almost impossible for low income families, who were the target group for affordable homes, to buy and own a property.

Goh also stressed that it would be pointless for developers to answer the government’s call to build more affordable homes if in the end the intended buyers could not get the loan they needed to buy the house. Goh added that despite the encouragement from the government for developers to build more affordable housing, it would still be difficult for them to dilute the products if there are no buyers.

Marzunisham who spoke with the media after the forum said that Bank Negara had always recognized the importance of the property sector and the role of developers in providing housing for the people. He also urged developers to work closely with the government as well as home buyers’ association to find a winwin solution to the affordability issue faced by the housing industry.

Marzunisham was responding to a question by the President of Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (SHAREDA), Datuk Francis Goh, who blamed rigorous banking regulations for the failure of prospective home buyers to secure loans during an Economic Forum organized by Malaysia International Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently.

Goh claimed that Bank Negara had over the last two decades been

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FEATURE PROPERTY EVENT | Gleneagles Kota Kinabalu Hospital

Gleneagles Kota Kinabalu Hospital To Open In Matter Of Weeks

G

leneagles Kota Kinabalu is strategically located along the coastal highway of Kota Kinabalu, close to the heart of the city, just less than 10km away from Kota Kinabalu International Airport.

Gleneagles Kota Kinabalu, a branch of Pantai Medical Centre Sdn Bhd under Parkway Pantai Limited will cater to the healthcare needs of the residents in Kota Kinabalu and its surrounding areas in Sabah. It also strives to provide excellent health care quality, service and patient safety.

The total capacity of the hospital would be 200 in-patient beds, 73 medical suites, 6 operating theatres, 15 intensive care units, 7 neonatal intensive care units and 6 labour & delivery suites. Its key clinical facilities would include cardiac care, digestive health care, bone & joint care, women & children care, and urology care.

Paediatric Department with underwater themed wall mural

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An extensive range of disciplines which include general surgery, gastroenterology, cardiology/ interventional cardiology, neurosurgery, obstetrics & gynaecology, paediatrics & paediatric surgery, radiology/ interventional radiology, spine surgery, and vascular surgery among others will provide an unparalleled level of specialist care and convenience for patients seeking treatment.

The hospital will be equipped with state-of-the- art equipment, technology and services such as radiology and imaging service, health screening service, 24-hour ambulance service, dialysis centre, clinical laboratory services, and physiotherapy & rehabilitation services.

Gleneagles Kota Kinabalu prides itself for having among the best available equipment to cater to the high demand for professional health care and treatment in Sabah. The minutes saved to get the results needed to treat a patient in an emergency is of paramount importance. Hence

High-tech bedding in the Premier Suite

Chief Executive Officer Jean Francois Naa showcase its latest technologies in medical imaging huge investments have been made to equip the hospital with cuttingedge technology and equipment such as the MRI machine at the Radiology & Imaging Service unit which is capable of producing results within 10 minutes as compared to the standard 30 minutes.

attached bathroom fitted with safety features for the patient’s care and comfort. The curved structure of the building has its rooms opening up to panoramic views of the South China Sea, Sutera Harbour Resort golf course and city centre as well as the luxury condominiums nearby.

The overall layout of the hospital has also been meticulously planned to ensure that each patient that arrives at its door is given the highest priority. Gleneagles Kota Kinabalu is the only hospital in Malaysia that has a dedicated elevator which connects the Accident & Emergency department to the operating theaters

With its excellent location within the southern city hub of Kota Kinabalu, the hospital is poised to become the new private referral centre in East Malaysia and will play a pivotal role in developing Sabah’s medical tourism market with patients from Indonesia, Brunei, Korea, Japan and other countries.

and intensive care unit.

Gleneagles is located adjacent to the The SoHo apartments at Riverson which is currently under construction and the recently opened Imago mall.

The serviced apartments and mall are well integrated with Gleneagles Kota Kinabalu’s aim to cater to the medical tourism market as they offer an exceptional range of amenities to meet the accommodation and lifestyle needs of the patients preand post-treatment.

The hospital is within weeks of obtaining its operating license from the Ministry of Health after which it will be ready to be of service. In terms of infrastructure, there are only finishing touches to be made while the hospital firms up arrangements with major insurance and corporate companies to be on their panel once they are in operation.

Prices for health care, treatment and hospitalization at Gleneagles Kota Kinabalu are very competitive and comparable to many specialists’ centres in Malaysia. Its room rates range from RM180 for a twin-bedded room to RM1,600 for a Presidential Suite which comes complete with a spacious lounge and kitchenette.

Each room is equipped with topof-the-line automatic beds and an

The hospital also has plans to lease and manage the studio units (actual numbers to be determined) for the benefit of family members who want to be close to their loved ones during their hospitalization. The serviced apartments are a self-contained development with various facilities and services such as swimming pool for adults and children, playground, gymnasium, covered parking and 24hour security.

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SABAH PROPERTY NEWS

SHAREDA’s SPV Move Welcomed By The State Government as SHAREDA could work hand-inhand with the government and this augured well for the well-being of the state and its people.

On the other hand, he also urged other sectors to follow the good example of the association.

Local Government and Housing Minister, Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor

T

he selfless effort by Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers’ Association (SHAREDA) to form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) with the aim to build affordable houses throughout the state is much welcomed by the Local Government and Housing Minister, Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.

Speaking to local media recently, Hajiji thanked the association for answering the government’s call and noted that the SPV, SHAREDA Berhad, has garnered a paid-up capital of 30 million ringgit through shares bought by its members.

Hajiji was also quoted saying that he was glad the private sector such

To recap, the move was announced by SHAREDA’s President Datuk Francis Goh at its Annual General Meeting recently.

According to Goh, SHAREDA Berhad is now ready to invest in three projects – two in Penampang area where the focus is on affordable homes costing less than RM250,000.

He said that the three projects, if successful, will provide another 2,500 units of houses to meet the needs of the community.

Meanwhile, Hajiji also congratulated Goh on his reelection without contest as SHAREDA president for a second two-year term.

SESB Sacrifices For The Sake Of Power In Sabah

S

abah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB) is reeling under financial strain due to the government’s clampdown on tariff, huge investments and higher operating costs as it is providing power to more than 80 per cent of the state.

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SESB sub-station in Tanjung Aru Tariff increase had not been implemented until 2011 although SESB was allowed to do so three times earlier in accordance with the privatisation of the Sabah Electricity Board’s (SEB) in 1998.

“The privatisation agreement stipulated Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) endorsement for tariff increases by 28 per cent in 1999, 20 per cent in 2004 and 3.58 per cent in 2008, but the three rate hikes were never implemented,” according to a source.

Under the privatisation formulated 17 years ago, TNB owns 80 per cent of the equity in SESB while the remaining 20 per cent is held by the Sabah government.

Sabah decided to privatise SEB as it was in poor financial health to expand the electrification expansion in the state beyond 50 per cent then.

Thus, TNB shouldered a big responsibility to ensure the state government’s resolve could be carried out in the interest of Sabahans and Sabah, whose geographical terrains posed a big challenge.

From the records, once SESB was created, TNB gave a capital injection of RM857 million in 1998 and the financial aid kept rising.

Much to TNB’s chagrin, the Sabah Housing Real and Estate Developers Association recently criticised TNB for allegedly not coming to the aid of SESB, which was suffering losses in its operations, by injecting capital.

On the contrary, since SESB’s inception in 1998 until 2011, various quarters had invested up to RM5.3 billion as capital expenditure to develop its electricity systems and infrastructure, comprising power generation, transmission and distribution in Sabah.

According to the Energy Commission of Malaysia’s website, RM9 billion more is needed to implement power generation,

transmission and distribution between 2012 and 2020.

At the same time, the power generation mix is becoming more expensive with a change in fuel consumption to gas (67 percent), oil (21 percent), biomass (three percent) and hydro (nine percent) compared with 17 years ago from gas (31 percent), oil (52 percent) and hydro (17 percent).

In retrospect, other interested parties in SESB’s privatisation then had set a target of tariff increase by up to 40 percent to balance capital injections and investment risks.

Sabah’s then Chief Minister Datuk Yong Teck Lee was quoted as saying that a four-party consortium formed to take over SEB never materialised as two of the members wanted Sabah’s electricity rates to increase by up to 40 percent after the privatisation was resolved.

An industry source said TNB did not get a commensurate return to its investments in SESB, and this reflects that it places more importance on the development of the state rather than profit.

“TNB has also extended its business transformation expenditure to SESB in order for both entities to move forward more confidently and able to meet current challenges and demands,” he said.

Despite the financial challenges, SESB, under TNB’s governance, will continue to upgrade its systems to enable electricity to reach more than 500,000 users, almost double from 260,000 in 1998.

As statistics from the Energy Commission of Malaysia show that over 81 percent of Sabah had been electrified in 2011 from 50 percent 17 years ago, they attest that generating electricity supply in Sabah requires sacrifices and resilience in offsetting high costs against returns.

SHAREDA Criticized TNB For Not Helping SESB

T

From left; Chew Sang Hai (Deputy President of SHAREDA, Datuk Francis Goh (President of SHAREDA), Dato’ Ir. John Chee (Vice-President of SHAREDA)

enaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) which was reported to have reaped a handsome profit of RM6.5 billion last year, was criticized by Datuk Francis Goh for not injecting capital into Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB). Goh, who is the President of Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (SHAREDA), said that this has caused SESB, which is running at loss, to resort to hiking electricity tariff and imposing nontransparent capital contribution on property developers.

He was responding to the vehement objection by the Sabah Electricity Board Workers’ Union over SHAREDA’s offer to buy over the State power company recently, adding that SHAREDA was not against the Sabah Electricity Board Workers’ Union. Moreover, the workers’ union has no authority to decide whether to accept SHAREDA’s offer to buy over SESB as they are not shareholders of the company, he said.

Goh also disclosed that during a call made by SHAREDA on the Energy, Green Technology

and Water Minister, Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Maximus Ongkili, and SESB’s top management the top management of SESB had actually made the offer to SHAREDA to take over the company, unbeknown to the Sabah Electricity Board Workers’ Union.

Meanwhile, SHAREDA hoped that the government could regain the 80 percent share in SESB, while SHAREDA would take the lead to raise RM200,000 and inject the money into SESB in order to enhance the electricity supply in the State.

It is reported that if the State Government succeeded in regaining its 80 percent share in SESB and allow SHAREDA to take over the power company, Goh vowed that the association would offer 30 percent share to the State Government instead of the existing 20 percent SESB shares and reduce electricity tariff by 15 percent. Over and above that, Goh said, the association would increase the salary of SESB workers by 10 percent if the acquisition was realized. Goh said that at present, each household is paying between RM300 and RM400 every month to SESB which is around 10 percent of the average salary in Sabah.

Illegal Broker Situation In Sabah Is ‘A Real Manace’ - MIEA

T

he President of Malaysia Institute of Estate Agent (MIEA), Siva Shanker has referred to the illegal broker situation in Sabah as ‘a real menace’. He said that the situation is far worse compared to West Malaysia, adding that they (illegal brokers) are doing all kinds of things against the law, defying the rules, and even going as far as cheating their prospective clients by running away with the deposit money.

Siva said that the main contributor to the problem is the lack of legal brokers especially in small towns which encouraged the illegal brokers to take advantage of the situation. He noted that courses such as diploma in real estate agency are still unfamiliar in Sabah unlike in Peninsular where these courses are offered at many education centers. MIEA is working very hard to get more estate agents to qualify especially in Sabah. According to Siva, this would be the fourth year that MIEA has conducted the Negotiators Certification Course (NCC) as well as the two-year diploma course at Kinabalu College.

MIEA had earlier conducted the two-day NCC course which was attended by about 60 people, consisting of real estate negotiators as well as bankers, developers and property practitioners who had joined the course for a better and more in-depth understanding of the laws and regulations relating to real estate practices. Siva explained that a course such as NCC is needed because previously, real estate negotiators were not required to be licensed or tagged.

In order to sell properties and collect the fees, one must be a registered estate agent.

Otherwise, it would be considered a crime under the Board Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents Act

1981, which carries a sentence of three years’ jail, or RM300,000 fine or both upon conviction. It wasn’t until 2013 that the Board decided that all real estate negotiators must also be registered, and in order for them to be registered, it was made compulsory for them to attend the course.

Incoming President of MIEA Sabah chapter, Henry Tai, pointed out that other than the lack of existing tertiary education offering courses in real estate agency, poor enforcement on the government’s part is also a contributing factor for illegal brokering practices in the State.

He said that despite thousands of cases involving illegal brokering, nobody has ever been charged with such crime in Malaysia so the best way is to educate the public and those who wish to be involved in this industry.

Henry also said that NCC certificate holders cannot start a real estate firm but must first register themselves with a recognised real estate firm before they can apply for licensing with the Board of Valuers, Appraisers and Estate Agents.

Left; President of Malaysia Institute of Estate Agent (MIEA), Siva Shanker holding a real estate negotiator tag

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57

SARAWAK PROPERTY NEWS

SARAWAK

PROPERTY NEWS

Keep track of the latest property and real estate news plus reviews in the property market in Sarawak

RM2.5 Billion For Sarawak Rural Development infrastructure costing RM2.4 billion, while three were under the Desa Abad ke-21 initiative costing RM54 million.

“The five programmes are construction of 697 kilometres of roads costing RM891, 880,006; electricity supply for 13,319 houses (RM1,060,659,100); water supply for 7,500 houses (RM337,010,000); assistance for 9,500 homes (RM200 million); and maintenance of 313 kilometres of roads (RM6,232,200),” he said.

T

Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal

he Ministry Rural and Regional Development has set aside RM2.5 billion for the development of eight rural programmes in Sarawak this year.

According to its Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal, five of the programmes involved basic

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Meanwhile the three other programmes were focused on large scale fruit farming, comprising two projects costing RM8 million; 13 sustainable farming projects (RM26 million) and the rural business challenge involving 8,500 participants (RM20 million).

Mohd Shafie said this recently after chairing the first coordination committee meeting for this year

for state Rural Exco chairmen in the country.

“We also stressed on cooperation between the departments and state government to ensure smooth implementation of the programmes.

“Aside from that, we also discussed the need to be prepared in the event of a disaster to enable community leaders to assist agencies under the KKLW,” he said.

Mohd Shafie also added that the ministry received applications from both the Sarawak and Sabah governments for additional funds to build more houses under the hardcore poor people’s housing programme including longhouses.

“Sarawak applied for RM51 million more while Sabah, RM50 million more. We will refer their applications to the Finance Ministry,” he said.

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59

SARAWAK PROPERTY NEWS

Borneo Island City To Spur Modernization Of Kuching north that will exist and complement the rapid development of the modern and developing Kuching city,” he said during the launch.

This joint-venture effort between the two partners will showcase the uniqueness of the bilateral ties between Sarawak and China which has spanned over seven centuries.

B

orneo Island City is set to be a new landmark for Sarawak as a vibrant resort-city which will spur the modernisation of Kuching.

It will be an iconic township combining modern amenities amidst the natural setting of mangrove forest with man-made environmental friendly lakeside living.

The project is spearheaded

by ASSAR Industri Sdn Bhd (ASSAR Industri), a subsidiary of Permodalan Assar Sdn Bhd (ASSAR), and Le Parker International (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Le Parker).

Tan Sri Datuk Amar Bujang Mohd Nor, chairman of the board of directors of ASSAR, praised Le Parker chairman Charles Lin and his team for the remarkable design and concept put forward for the masterplan of Borneo Island City which emphasises the integration between nature and man-made spaces.

The unveiling of Borneo Island City and signing of the joint venture agreement between Assar and Le Parker, was witnessed by Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh. As a green city with a beautiful environment, the project will be an integrated development that promotes affordable lifestyle spread over an area of 1,400 acres.

This has enabled the creation of a new form of ecological balance and sustainable living environment within the new township.

“We envisage the development to transform the area into a new growth

and retaining as far as possible the natural environment.

The project will be developed over 15 years with a gross development cost of RM10.58 billion and is expected to contribute positively towards urbanisation and economic development of the suburbs of Kuching and Kota Samarahan areas.

Borneo Island City will provide an interesting mix of iconic office towers, distinctive residential condominiums and landed properties, shopping, entertainment centres, educational hub comprising international schools, colleges and university, unique tourist night market attractions including fisherman wharf, luxurious resort

“The development will augur well with the government’s long term development plan for the future Kuching city and its surrounding regions through the years 2020,” Amar Bujang said.

hotels and water villas with private landing jetty, public and private hospitals, theme nature park and cultural village, government offices, police station, fire station, house of worship and a post office

creating satellite townships, better for the increasing population.

In other words, all amenities will be available within the four corners of this ‘city within a city’. It will offer opportunities for sound investment in Sarawak’s real estate. What is crucial to this unique project is the emphasis of ‘green-city’ concept

As most of the areas nearby the city are fully developed, there will be natural expansion into the outskirts,

“In addition, Borneo Island City has also been approved with a special development area that offers opportunities for foreigners to own the properties,” he added As Sarawak is known for its political stability and racial harmony, the project will likely attract foreigners to come to Sarawak not only as tourists but also as investors.

HSL Launches New Property In Samariang Aman 2 recently sold-out Bayu Jingga, Bayu Ungu and Bayu Biru homes.

In a press release, the developer stated that it is expecting an enthusiastic response given its strong sales in the area.

H

ock Seng Lee Construction Sdn Bhd (HSL), has launched the new ‘Bayu Jingga II’ double-storey terraced homes at

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Samariang Aman 2.

Named after the breezy and peaceful ambiance of the locale, ‘Bayu Jingga II’ is a follow-up to the

Samariang Aman 2 is sited on a 99-year lease, mixed zone land with convenient access via the new Bako/ Demak link road and the future riverine loop road linking Matang, Samariang and Petra Jaya.

The double-storey terraced houses are attractively designed and budget-friendly with the spacious

four-room designs boasting a walled-up area of 1,522 to 1,548 square feet with land sizes from 4.2 to 10.4 points.

With only 44 units available, customers are advised to check in early with HSL’s sales team to have a choice of lots.HSL is offering FREE legal fees on Sales & Purchase agreements and MOT so buyers can save. HSL sales consultants can also provide advice on state and federal housing loans.

Visit their website www.hsl.com.my for more information.

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61

HOT TOPIC | Tourism and Leisure Property Investment

HOTEL IN MALAYSIA

Challenges And Opportunities

Average Occupancy Rates (AOR) Of Hotels

By State 2012 / 2013

Tourism and Leisure Property Investment

– New Trend in Sustainable Investment

STATE

2012

2013

DIFFERENCE

Kuala Lumpur

69.3

69.5

0.2

Putrajaya F.T

65.3

62.0

-3.3

Selangor

67.3

67.5

0.2

Penang

64.0

64.2

0.2

Perak

49.6

49.8

0.2

Kedah

52.9

53.0

0.1

Perlis

41.2

43.1

1.9

Kelantan

39.8

40.0

0.2

Terangganu

46.3

47.0

0.7

Pahang

81.8

80.6

-1.2

Johor

56.1

56.4

0.3

Melaka

62.0

62.2

0.2

Negeri Sembilan

43.0

43.6

0.6

Sabah

60.8

62.2

1.3

Labuan F.T

66.9

67.0

0.1

Sarawak

57.2

57.4

0.2

MALAYSIA

62.4

62.6

0.2

According to the SHAREDA report, one of the biggest challenges in meeting tourist demands in Sabah is the lack of premium hotel accommodation. The 2011 Hotel Inventory Survey listed the total number of rooms for 5-star hotels at 3,041 and 3,080 for 4-star which is still insufficient to serve the tourists’ needs. Due to limited supply of 4-star hotels (only 14 hotels available) and 5-star hotels (only 9 hotels available) in Sabah, these hotels are enjoying good occupancy and room rates. So why are developers not flooding the market with more hotel rooms in these categories?

Capital investment is perhaps the biggest challenge. An investment for one 5-star or 4-star hotel can involve a capital investment of between RM200 million to RM350 million respectively. Banks are however not eager to lend out this amount as they perceive hotel development as an unfavorable industry with the return of investment requiring a longer period ranging from 10 to 15 years. The SHAREDA report continues to add that the Central Bank is skeptical about financing leisure properties in Sabah as many projects in Peninsular Malaysia have failed and the non-performing loans in the hotel and tourism properties is the highest compared to other financing products.

Dr Daniele Gambero, strategic marketing consultant and CEO of REI Group of Companies, concurs that banks are often reluctant to approve loans for leisure properties and this can be attributed to reservations as to the future management of these properties.

Source: Tourism Malaysia (Based on Hotel Survey) F.T = Federal Territory

Despite being one of the busiest airports in Malaysia and having a broad spectrum of tourist attractions, Sabah is still lacking in 5-star luxury resorts. What is holding back developers in investing in Sabah’s leisure property sector?

T

he recent 2014 Property Development Annual Report & Market Outlook 2015 published by the Sabah Housing and Real Estates Developers Association (SHAREDA) made a case for the need to develop more tourism and leisure properties in Sabah to meet visitor demands. Statistics in the report showed a 17.6% increase in visitor arrivals between 2012 and 2013 to 3.38 million. The figures were expected to continue its upward trend in 2014 but this was curtailed by the double flight tragedies of MH370 and MH17. Visitor numbers from China dropped noticeably in 2014 but the number of Korean and Japanese tourists showed an equally drastic increase to compensate for the slump in the China market.

Number Of Room And Average Occupancy Rate For Hotels Location VISITOR ARRIVALS

Number of Hotel

Total number of rooms

Number of Rooms Standard

Suite

Tariff (RM/ Night)

Average Occupancy Rate (%)

Keningau

3

2

153

55

7

135-900

NA

Kota Kinabalu

Year

Int’l Visitor Arrivals

Domestic Visitor Arrivals

Total Visitor Arrivals

Growth (%)

Int’l Tourism Receipts (RM Million)

Domestic Tourism Receipts (RM Million)

Total Tourism Receipts (RM Million)

5

6

2,257

2,017

204

460-6,000

79.2

2012

941,765

1,933,996

2,875,761

1.1%

2.367.3

2,893.3

5,261

4

3

1,251

429

15

310-1,600

NA

2013

1,089,320

2,293,923

3,383,243

17.7%

2,738

3,615

6,353

3

11

1,865

1,119

23

105-600

NA

2014

1,160,000T

2,360,000T

3,520,000T

4.0%

2.916*

3,719*

6,635*

2

9

605

308

19

80-360

NA

2015

1,250,000f

2,450,000f

3,700,000f

5.1%

3,142*

3,861*

7,003f

1

5

236

24

NA

50-150

NA

3

1

50

NA

NA

115-504

57.3

2

2

133

NA

NA

75-517

NA

1

2

81

NA

NA

55-328

NA

4

1

116

NA

NA

348-696

NA

3

5

389

NA

NA

88-555

NA

2

3

226

NA

NA

68-280

65.0

1

10

354

NA

NA

50-230

37.2

4

1

178

NA

NA

400-3,800

NA

3

4

459

NA

NA

108-700

28.2

2

5

388

NA

NA

88-500

19.6

1

5

136

NA

NA

60-168

52.8

2

1

63

63

0

80-180

29.0

Note: Tourism Receipt is based on per Capita of RM 2,513.7 (2012) for International Visitor and RM 1,576 (2012/2013) for Domestic Visitor T = Target F = Forecast * = Estimated Source: Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Tourism Receipts Survey 2012 / Immigration Department Sabah Domestic Market Survey 2012 / 2013- Sabah Tourism Board 12.5% 8.5%

Lahad Datu

Sandakan

28% 15.0%

30%

This series of events show that Sabah is a resilient tourism product and with much of the state’s tourism potential still not fully developed, there is a huge market for tourism and leisure properties to thrive to cater to the expected continued increase in visitor numbers. Except it isn’t.

Star Ratings

TOURISM RECEIPTS

28%- Shopping (RM 1,778.8 Mil) 15.0%- Food & Beverage (RM 953.1Mil)

Tawau

6.0%- Entertainment & Recreation (RM 381.2 Mil) 30%- Accomodation (RM 1,905.9 Mil)

6.0%

8.5%- Local Transportation (RM 540.0 Mil) 12.5%- Sightseeing (Rm 794.1 Mil)

Tenom

Total : RM 6,353 Mil Note : e= Estimated Source : Tourism Expenditure Survey 2012 / 13- Sabah Tourism Board

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Source : Property Market Report 2013

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63

HOT TOPIC | Australia Property Market Outlook 2015

“One of the main issues in Kota Kinablu as is also in Peninsular Malaysia is that developers often times are not really looking into a possible transformation of their projects into “Investment grade products” through the selection of appropriate hospitality specialists (well established hotel management companies),” says Gambero.

reliable statistics available. Even NAPIC admits to a possible +- 15% discrepancy in their resulting numbers of tourist arrival, hotel occupancy rates and number of offered rooms. So as a bank, if I were to choose between residential, shop-lot, office space and hotel,I would prefer to stay with the first three than the last one.”

“Once the resort or hotel is completed, they will “pretend” to be also the “so said specialized” management company. Banks are not so keen because they know about this problem and are afraid that the “promised” extremely high ROI at the end will not be enough to cover the loan repayment.”

But there are opportunities to help strengthen the cause for Sabah to gain more favour from the banks to support its leisure property development sector and attract foreign investment.

Banks are also very cautious with facts and figures as much of the resort or hotel’s ROI will depend on its occupancy rate.

“Banks will normally look at the “published occupancy rate” which is published every year by Tourism Malaysia and NAPIC,” adds Gambero.

“The statistics between these two sources of information don’t always show the same numbers and in fact, there is not that much

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Having a marketing strategy with attractive business models leveraging Kota Kinabalu or Sabah as one of the most livable city in Asia and a bustling metropolis within a tropical paradise is the best approach to attract foreigners to invest in leisure property. This will further strengthen Sabah’s position as a premier ecoadventure destination through conservation and appreciation for sustainable development of new tourism products. Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) can also act as a good marketing tool to attract more foreigners to buy leisure properties and to stay in Sabah.

The careful consideration of product types, location with logistic, beauty and unique ambience such as beach front, lagoon, island, riverside, paddy view, hilltop or mountain view, and cliffs with beautiful scenery would be the main criteria to ascertain developers’ product market positioning.

Trends and Tribulations in Leisure Property Development The coastline north of Kota Kinabalu has been compared to the Gold Coast, the iconic tourist haven of Australia. It has many of the same characteristics – long white sand beaches and clear waters. As a potential development corridor for tourism and leisure property development, there is no better location in Sabah.

However, Charles Tan, a property analyst and regular contributor to Property Hunter, thinks that while identifying corridors is important, transparency and free flow of information is more vital to encourage banks to be more lenient in their lending policy for this type of development.

“Banks are not charity organisations. If I am a bank and without a clear picture of what I am getting into, I would prefer not to lend money for these new developments,” he opines.

“My margin for these new loans is not that high but without the necessary information from the state government, I will not take up potential non-performing loans (NPLs). Thus, the ball is in the state government’s court now. How serious are they for the development of this corridor to succeed? If their expertise is insufficient, are they open to a discussion with the other stakeholders.

“Another question would be how serious would be the developers themselves. To depend entirely on the state government is not possible. They (developers) must come up not just with ideas but also with some financing capabilities. Yes, during the start of any huge project / plan, the bigger players have to start first. It’s what we call the flying geese effect. Once everything starts moving, somehow it will attract more interested parties to contribute as well.”

SHAREDA has been actively engaging local government authorities including the Chief Minister’s Department and Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment to support the push to develop Sabah’s tourism infrastructure. The SHAREDA report remarked that although Sabah’s tourism industry has enjoyed a tremendous growth over the last decade, key supporting services need to be upgraded, particularly the availability of sound infrastructure, skilled human resources, as well as public security and safety.

As compared to the past decade, Sabah only has 9 five star hotels and 14 four star hotels with 3,041 and 3,080 rooms respectively. With the investments from private property developers, an influx of 20 hotel developments and 9 resorts villa will be realized in 2018.

It can be concluded that only with the investment and involvement from the private property developers into leisure properties and tourism development, can it then elevate Sabah’s tourism sector to greater heights.Sabah needs more development in leisure properties if our Tourism Ministry wishes to leverage Sabah as the most livable state and to attract more foreigners to visit or stay in Sabah under Malaysia My Second Home. As a matter of fact, resort villas or high end leisure properties such as beach villas, paddy villas, riverside villas, hilltop villas, and cliff villas which are more commonly seen in Bali, Koh Samui or Phuket can be a viable option in Sabah.

Sabah is blessed with so many natural scenic sites and won’t go wrong if it heads towards the direction of building more tourism related developments by private property developers.

An additional 8 five star hotel and 8 four star hotels and 6 five star resort villas are in the making. The supply of an additional 2,609 five star hotel rooms will contribute an 86% increase of the existing supply, while 2,111 four star hotel rooms will see an increase of 69% to the existing supply of four star rooms.

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HOT TOPIC | Building Sabah’s Tourism And Leisure Property Market

Sky Suites Hotel at C Park

Building Sabah’s Tourism And Leisure Property Market

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ourists gravitate towards a particular destination based on the fundamental 5As – attractions, activities, access, accommodation and amenities. Sabah fulfills all the criteria albeit at varying degrees of satisfaction particularly in the accommodation category where it is seen as a significant shortcoming in achieving a higher growth percentage in tourist arrivals to Sabah.

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The recent SHAREDA 2014 Property Annual Report & Market Outlook 2015 highlighted the need to address the lack of 5-star and 4-star hotel accommodation in Sabah. In an interview with Datuk KL Tan, past chairman of MATTA Sabah Chapter (2009 – 2013) and VP Inbound MATTA Malaysia (2013 - 2015), he remarked that based on the Sabah Estimate Tourist Arrivals for domestic and international markets, which is about 3.3 million in 2014, there is sufficient 3 – 5 star hotel rooms. However, taking peak seasons

such as the northern summer months, Chinese New Year and Christmas into account, there are periods when accommodation is seriously lacking to accommodate tourist demands.

According to Tan, the main accommodation preference is for 3 – 4 star hotels as they are more readily available. The concentration of these category hotels are usually within city limites with niche preference for more luxurious resorts and boutique hotels away from the city.

“Sabah is basically about packaging. It is not focused on shopping, theme parks or night life but more on fun, adventure and resort atmosphere,” says Tan. “In that sense, I personally feel that more beach resorts should be built due to the way we are packaging and marketing our products. We are increasingly getting more and more demand for 3 – 4 star beach resorts and if you look at the past 5 – 10 years, there has been no increase in this category.”

Location and price are also very important considerations in luring tourists to our shores.

“For Europe, of course location by the beach would be favorable to them. For domestic, they like the city area. For other markets, it could be the mountain area or city area. And of course,

Jesselton Point Hotel

price is very important and dominates all other considerations. As you know, in any tour package, the air ticket and accommodation takes up 60% 70% of the total tour package so price is always a factor,” adds Tan. “The price in Sabah has been going up every year and for this year, the hotel prices have increased again. Compared to other countries, we are still on the high side compared to regional destinations like Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.”

Building up Sabah’s tourism and leisure property development market would require a judicious approach to capitalizing on its best natural assets, the right location, concept and marketing strategy.

“Like in Sandakan, I do not see the immediate need for resort development there because I do not see any viable location for this type of development. Sandakan is there for the wildlife and not its city which is not attractive enough to lure tourists to stay longer than necessary. In Sandakan, they should focus on 3-star hotels to cater to domestic markets and foreign tourists on transit to the wildlife destinations,” says Tan. “Kota Kinabalu is the main gateway for leisure development especially the Northern Corridor which is appropriately targeted for resort development because of its cleaner waters and nicer beaches. In a nutshell, yes, we need more leisure properties and with more properties, there is more potential for the industry to expand in the 3 – 5 star categories,” concludes Tan.

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HOT TOPIC | Building Sabah’s Tourism And Leisure Property Market

4.

5.

JW Marriott Hotel @ Oceanus Waterfront Mall The SHAREDA 2014 property report has listed on-going and up-coming leisure property development that will play a key role in determining Sabah’s future tourism growth and direction.

Mall is developed by Sunsea Development Sdn Bhd. 2.

ADDITIONAL SUPPLY OF HOTELS IN 2014 Prior to 2014, there were already many private investors and hotel operators from Peninsular Malaysia investing silently in the hotel industry, identifying and securing many potential sites in the city centre for hotel investment. Some like Hilton Group and Mercure Hotel have secured their ideal ready-made hotels for immediate operation. Whilst Ibis Styles Hotel had secured its potential site and the construction is currently on going. An estimated total of 1,817 hotel rooms are made available to the existing tourism market.

3.

ONGOING HOTELS AND RESORT DEVELOPMENT BY PROPERTY DEVELOPERS The interest of investing into hotel tourism is already shown by some of the SHAREDA members back in 2013 with their property developments incorporating a 4- or 5-star hotel into their mixed developments. Among these are: 1.

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JW Marriott Hotel @ Oceanus Waterfront Mall JW Marriott Hotel comprises a 12-storey high 365 room 5-star hotel located at Kota Kinabalu City Waterfront and it is expected to commence operations within the year 2015.

This hotel is fully equipped with facilities such as a banquet hall that can cater for approximately 800 people, a glass edge swimming pool, fitness centre and spa and a business centre. The Oceanus Water Front

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Best Western Hotel at ITCC Penampang ITCC Penampang, developed by Sabanilam Enterprise Sdn Bhd located at Jalan Pintas/ Penampang bypass, comprises of one 5-star hotel with 330 guest rooms. The new 19-storey Best Western Hotel at ITCC will include upscale guest rooms with impeccable modern facilities, high speed internet connectivity, restaurants, meeting rooms, fitness centre and spa. The ballroom is capable of housing more than 170 tables and is set up to become the new hub for local and regional conferences, corporate functions and wedding.

Soluxe Hotel at One Place Mall One Place Mall, Putatan is the latest 320 room 4-star hotel and 195 retail outlet shopping mall mixed development project by Tarlia Enterprise Sdn Bhd. The RM150 million project is strategically located in the heart of Putatan town and will be the gateway to Kota Kinabalu city. The 10-storey complex is the first regional shopping mall in Putatan area which provides for nearly 400 parking bays inside the building. The retail complex is a two-storey shopping mall and one block is reserved for the hotel of six floors plus a 4-storey car park which interconnects the shopping lots and the hotel. A multipurpose hall for exhibitions, meetings, concerts, weddings, banquets and bazaar events will add vibrancy to the shopping mall. The hotel will be operated under the branding of Soluxe Hotel Group

Jesselton Point Hotel Jesselton Point Hotel is located at Jalan Gaya next to Wisma Takada in the city centre. The hotel comprises of a 25-storey tower for 118 hotel suites and 25 business suites with 12 parking lots developed by Sara Timur Sdn Bhd. Mercure Hotel will be the hotel operator for Jesselton Point Hotel and is expected to commence operations in the last quarter of 2015.

Putatan & Lintas Platinum Hotel Putatan Platinum Hotel is situated in the heart of Putatan Town. Located 5km away from Kota Kinabalu International Airport and 7km away from Kota Kinabalu city, the 4-storey hotel offers 93 rooms.

Other facilities include 3 meeting rooms, a restaurant and 24-hour front desk and security service. Another 4-storey 97 room 3 star hotel is located at Lintas Jaya Commercial Center and is still under construction. Both hotels are developed by Dat Sing Development Sdn Bhd.

2.

3.

4.

The following are the list of hotel or leisure property developments with Development Plan approved and pending to launch or commence construction in 2015: 1.

Sky Suites Hotel at C Park C Park developed by Chang Cheng Daya is located at Penampang By-Pass road. The mixed development contains one block of 28-storey with 288 hotel suites. Once completed, it will be one of the tallest 4-star hotel buildings in Sabah equipped with facilities such as sky pool, sky bar and sky garden.The gross development value for the hotel is RM160 million and it will be operated

by Lanson Place in order to achieve a 4-star hotel standard.

Sky City Hotel Sky City is an integrated mixed development that is located in Karamunsing developed

by Homesign Network Sdn Bhd. The development is approximately 30-storeys high, and the hotel lobby starts from the 12th – 15th floor and the rest are hotel rooms. The hotel comprises of 340 guest rooms. Below the hotel lobby are the office units. The other 2 towers (approximately

Two-bedroom Villas (486 sqm) – a long main wing (living, dining andbedroom) with a separate master suite overlooking a swimming pool. Thebuildings form an L shape around a large internal garden with decks, lounge pavilion and luxe outdoor furniture.

This Development is a commercial project with total Gross Development Costof RM225.3 million.

6.

Aman Saujana Resort Villas Phase 1, 2 & 3 The proposed development site is at Shahbandar Beach, Tuaran and consists of 3 phases: 20 units of lagoon villas in Phase 1, 59 units resort villas in Phase 2 and 31 units riversides resort villas in Phase 3.

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Aman Pesona Beachside Villas Kinsajohan Sdn Bhd is to complete the 110 units of resort villas with 198 rooms which

30-storeys) are service suites. This 5-star hotel offers the best of modern oriental hospitality as it will be operated by an awardwinning international brand.

UPCOMING HOTEL AND RESORT VILLAS DEVELOPMENT IN KOTA KINABALU Apart from the aforementioned on-going hotel developments by SHAREDA members with 1348 hotel rooms, there are many upcoming hotel developments, some coupled with hotel suites to be sold to the public with time share concept, some come with rental guarantee or rental pool schemes. The marketing concept to sell the hotel suites in order to garner revenue to support the capital investment for construction cost is vital as any investment in hotel development may incur a huge capital input.

3 Branded Hotels with 978 Rooms @ KKCC Kota Kinabalu Convention City (KKCC) located at the old Sabah Port waterfront will comprise of a 300-room five-star hotel (26-storeys), 330 room four-star hotel (30-storeys), 348 room three-star hotel (30-storeys), a five-storey corporate office, 299-units of residential apartments and a five-storey car park podium. The 5-star hotel will be operated by Pullman as the hotel operator.

5.

Royal City Hotel – City Point Complex and Hotel Suites Royal City Hotel located along Jalan Coastal, Kota Kinabalu provides a 5 star standard hotel with 318 rooms and 1 grand ballroom that can cater for 200 banquet tables and a wholly-owned 3-storey retail complex.The total Gross Development Cost is RM337 million with 4-storey 1,000 lot car park.

Developed and owned by Arah Permai Sdn Bhd, the hotel embraces several green features and proclaims to be a 5-star green hotel accredited with GBI Silver accreditation.The significant feature of the hotel is the two sky terrace lounges located on both the tower rooftops and connected with a hanging bridge. The grand ballroom is poised to be the biggest ballroom in Sabah with a capacity for 2,000 pax.

ALILA Dalit Bay Alila Dalit Bay comprises of a 152 bedroom/ suite hotel and 74 villas for private legal ownership in Pantai Dalit, Tuaran. This beach resort will commence its construction by 2015 and with include: One-bedroom Villas (253.5 sqm) – elongated living and bedroom areas openfully on both sides to private gardens, overlooking a large private pool, deckand shaded terrace.

will be operated as a 5-star resort by a reputable resort operator.The resort villas embraces green technology coupled with extensive village inspired landscape design using the essence of Bajau architecture as its design aesthetics.The total Gross Development Cost is RM210 million.

The proposed resort development consists of 120 units of holiday villas at Kg. Shahbandar, Tuaran completed with a clubhouse, swimming pools, and resort reception, sport facilities, and is 24-hours fully guarded and gated.The development product is aimed for rent to foreigners, silver hair retiree under the Malaysia My Second Home Programme (MM2H).This leisure property development will generate a Gross Development Cost of RM240 million and is expected to be launched in 2015 8.

Aman Senja Beachfront Villas Sited on a 3.5 acre prime beach front land, Aman Senja Beachfront Villas is located in Tuaran and comprises of 10 units of luxurious beach villas boasting contemporary design couple with an extravagant private garden, private wading pool and beach club. Complete with 24-hours security service, CCTV and housekeeping services.

The 10-units beach villas are designed in Balinese style as to celebrate the timeless allure of sea and breeze. It will be for rental purposes for the rich and famous. The development involves a Gross Development Cost of RM56 million.

9.

Royal Kinabalu Mountain Resort & Hotel Suites The prestigious development of Royal Kinabalu Mountain Resort and Hotel Suites is located at Tinompok, Ranau and consists of a 5 storey business and leisure hotel tower block which contains 124 hotel rooms (Block D), two blocks of 5 storey 220 units hotel suites (Block A & B), one block of 5 storey 60 units family suites (Block C), one level of basement retail boulevard with ballroom facilities, 3 levels of basement car park with 750 parking bays for hotel guests and visitors, 30 open car parking bays for coaches and 40-seater tourist buses parking for travel agencies. The hotel resort has 8 restaurants and cafes, spa, discothèque, karaoke, 2 theatres and indoor heated swimming pool.The mountain resort and hotel suites are not for sale. The total Gross Development Cost for this development is RM370 million.

UPCOMING HOTELS & RESORTS INITIATED

BY GOVERNMENT Three decades ago, Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa was initiated by the State Government who established a joint venture with Shangri-La’s Group to build the first 5-star hotel with 492 luxurious rooms in Sabah. Shangri-La’s Group also completed the other 5-star hotel at Pantai Dalit Tuaran known as Shangri-La Rasa Ria Resort in 1984.

The latest mega resort tourism project incorporated and wholly owned by the State Government will be the Tanjung Aru Eco Development Sdn Bhd to be built on 775.9 acres of land. The eco-friendly tourism development consists of 8 resort hotels including a 18-hole golf course and the existing Prince Philip Park will be enlarged to 27 acres and to be maintained and upgraded as another public park to the City of Nature Resort.

Only 32% of the total 775.9 acres of land under the Tanjung Aru Eco Development Master Plan will be subdivided into 32 parcels and to be sold through tenders by inviting international resort developers to bid and to build in accordance to the Master Plan. The remaining 68% consists of accessible open and recreational space including the 18-hole golf course.

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FEATURE PROPERTY EVENT | Property Hunter Expo 2015

Cautious Start For Property Hunter Expo 2015 In Kota Kinabalu

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he Property Hunter Expo 2015 kicked off in Kota Kinabalu from 27 – 29 March, 2015 with its biggest expo event in the series. The three day expo at the Sabah Trade Centre attracted thousands of visitors to view prime developments from all over Malaysia and Australia who occupied the more than 140 booths at the expo.

Buying was noted as still cautious as the property market continues to adjust to measures imposed by the government and central bank to curb property speculation and stabilize rising house prices. Savvy property buyers and investors however were quick to snap up properties of their choice as evidenced by the first purchase occurring within the first hour of opening the expo.

Others were keener to browse and weigh their options before making their final decision or making appointments for later to close the deal.

Whichever approach taken to determine their property purchase, visitors were clearly spoilt for choice with the diversity of products that were on offer from high-rise luxury condominiums to signature suites, bungalows, duplexes and terraced houses.

More than 140 booths featured an extensive selection of properties in Malaysia and Australia for the thousands of visitors who attended the expo

Registration counter at the PH Expo Kota Kinabalu 2015

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RTM Sabah crew covering the PH Expo Kota Kinabalu for their news edition

Enoch Khoo talking about his experience as a real estate agent.

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FEATURE PROPERTY EVENT | Property Hunter Expo 2015

Directors of Property Hunter Michael Hiew and Elson Kho with speakers at the expo (from left) Ishmael Ho, Fairuz Ridzuan, Chris Tan and Dr Daniele Gambero

Various activities were organized to liven up the weekend and to give buyers that extra perk for making a purchase during the expo.

Activities included the Visit & Win which was an hourly lucky draw to give the winner RM50 cash, Buy & Redeem which entitled each buyer an exclusive photoshoot session sponsored by renown Sabah photographer Louis Pang, and the Buy & Win which is a lucky draw with the grand prize of an 8D6N Shanghai Trip for two persons sponsored

by Airworld Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd. The grand prize winner was announced at the

(From left) Elson Kho, Richard Oon, Enoch Khoo, Datuk Francis Goh and Michael Hiew

end of the last day and it was won by Lim Kai Sien of Kota Kinabalu who posed happily with his delighted family during the prize presentation.

The Property Hunter Expo 2015 will continue its series in May with one in Kuching (1 – 3 May) and Miri (22 – 24 May) before moving on to Sandakan (12 -14 June) and Tawau (3 – 5 July). Due to popular demand, an additional city has been added to the series which is Sibu from 14 – 16 August.

Visitors taking the chance to do a professional photo shoot at the Louis Pang Photography booth during the expo

The annual expo also brought experts from the Malaysian property talk circuit to share their valuable experience and knowledge in the property investment market. They gave the packed venue a truly entertaining and thought provoking series of talks to guide them through the process of purchasing property with tips on where, when and how to make the most of their investment.

Elson Kho, director of Maxx Media (S) Sdn Bhd, is optimistic that despite challenges experienced by buyers in purchasing properties of their choice, the interest in property investment is still high.

“The buyers’ sentiment has clearly slowed down as we see a drop in overall event-day sales. Interest in property investment is still high though but with many visitors voicing their difficulties in obtaining loans,” says Kho. He added that the variety of properties exhibited at the expo could have been greater as many local developers’ did not manage to secure the authorities’ approval on their advertising permit and as a result, they were not able to showcase their latest projects at the expo.

Q&A session with the audience during the property talk

The property talk programme had a packed venue for every session

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Sam Lee of Property Hunter congratulating lucky buyer Lim Kai Sien who took home the lucky draw Grand Prize of a 8D6N Shanghai Trip for two persons sponsored by Airworld Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd. Buyers during the 3-day expo were also given a redeem voucher for a photo shoot with renowned local photographer Louis Pang.

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FEATURE PROPERTY EVENT | Gamuda Land Forays Into Sabah

Gamuda Land’s foray into exclusive high-rise developments like The Robertson, High Park Suites and Madge Mansions in Central of Klang Valley has received high ratings from renowned professional institution for its quality and green initiatives.

For their first venture in Sabah, they will be applying their enriching lifestyle concept within an affordable range for the mass market.

“We have two intentions in coming to Sabah,” says Chow.

Chow Chee Wah,

Managing Director Of Gamuda Land

“The first is to introduce Sabah investors to our KL and Johor properties and the second is to venture into development in Sabah. We want to bring the enriching lifestyle concept here and to target the mass market. But even with the mass market, they are looking for a certain lifestyle standard and not just buy a property because it is cheap.”

The Gamuda Land project in Inanam will cover a spread of less than 20 acres and will have up to 5 blocks with a total of 1500 units. Its elevated position with views of the hills, valleys and coastline will be used to its best advantage to maintain a green and healthy environment.

Chow emphasizes the importance of ensuring that these elements are included in its projects.

“Our property in Sabah will encourage a healthy lifestyle and we plan to include a lot of greenery, and jogging and cycling tracks around the apartments. How we enjoy a healthy lifestyle is important, not just owning a property which is a roof over your head, and this is the concept we want to bring here,” he says.

Gamuda Land Expands Its Foray Into Sabah

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amuda Land, the property arm of Gamuda Berhad has officially made its debut in East Malaysia with the launch of its first sales gallery in KK Times Square today. The simple yet meaningful launch started off on an upbeat note with a drum performance before concluding with a ribbon cutting ceremony by Chow Chee Wah, managing director of Gamuda Land and the land owners, Mr and Mrs Michael Wong, who had been instrumental in smoothing the process for Gamuda Land to initiate its first project in East Malaysia.

The sales gallery will showcase Gamuda Land’s signature projects for purchasers and investors to understand more about its core values in building quality homes and to serve as a platform to explore investment opportunities in Gamuda Land’s prestigious projects in West Malaysia and upcoming project in Kota Kinabalu.

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To date, Gamuda Land has a total of 7,968 acres of land bank to optimize its development and this includes seven townships spanning from Klang Valley and Johor to East Malaysia and further abroad, in Vietnam and Australia.

Chow added that the Inanam project will be priced competitively within the RM400,000 to RM500, 000 range at the initial stage to make it affordable for the general public. The project is expected to be launched in the second half of 2015.

Apart from housing, Gamuda Land will also be looking at opportunities in infrastructure development particularly in road improvement to elevate congestion in Sabah.

Gamuda Land demonstrates engineering expertise in its developments with unprecedented innovation. It places emphasis on world class infrastructure to ensure each project delivers its core values. Gamuda Land products uphold four pillars of quality, emphasizing on quality design, community and amenities, promote healthy lifestyle and prioritize safety and security to its residents.

With two decades of experience in the property industry, Gamuda Land ensures that every project adheres to the highest standards of quality in order to enhance sustainability and creates value for generations through creativity and innovation.

In pursuit of stringent quality for its projects, the standard Construction Quality Assessment System (CONQUAS) by Building and Construction Authority (BCA) scoring assessment is proactively adopted by Gamuda Land to ensure consistency in quality and responsibility to customer satisfaction. As a result, there is an increasing market confidence in its overall product quality. Gamuda Land is rated as a top scorer on the CONQUAS index for developers outside of Singapore.

Gamuda Land, Malaysia’s Top 5 developer has internationally acclaimed accolades namely The Edge Property Excellence Awards, FIABCI Property Award of Distinction, Malaysia Landscape Architecture Awards (MLAA), CNBC Asia Pacific Awards and more from recognized professional institutions and government bodies.

Thus, Gamuda Land’s world class expertise will manifest to Kota Kinabalu residents as it pushes the benchmark of elevated living by providing the opportunity to experience the true meaning of quality homes.

Its existing master plan township developments such as Kota Kemuning, Horizon Hills, Bandar Botanic, Jade Hills and Valencia provide fundamental expertise and experience which enabled Gamuda Land to be part of the massive urban transformation in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

According to Chow, Gamuda Land properties such as in the Klang Valley range between 400 to 1500 acres as it involves township development and it was only recently that they have ventured into smaller sized projects in the Golden Triangle in KL with high-rise condominiums.

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FEATURE CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS| PacifiCity

Level 2 Slab work in progress as at 26/2/2015

PacifiCity For more information visit at www.pacificity.com

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acifiCity, the integrated development in Likas Bay today announced it has already secured tenants for 50% of its Lifestyle Mall. In addition to entertainment anchor TGV Cinemas which is bringing the first ever IMAX® screen to Sabah and Everrise supermarket – the team behind the successful rescue project has announced it will also be host to international fashion retailer H&M. A spokesman for the developer explained the vision for the shopping mall – combining familiar local retail and dinning concepts on the first floor called Pacific Parade, with popular international brands, entertainment and restaurants in the Lifestyle Mall on the higher floors.

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“Our research shows the fusion of local and international concepts is very popular with consumers today, they value the familiarity

and feel of local shops but are also brand conscious and desire for international concepts.”

PacifiCity will be the only place in Kota Kinabalu where you can access both under one roof. “It also presents investors with a unique opportunity to own small shop lots in Pacific Parade which will appreciate because of the crowd pulled in by the international brands.”

At a recent open-house, members of the public and press were invited to view the construction progress of the mammoth 25-acre development first hand. The first phase of construction is on track to be completed later this year, with retail tenants set to open their doors to consumers in early 2016.

The mixed-use development will be the first to deliver Grade A offices for sale or lease in the Likas area.

Priced from RM478,000 the semifurnished office suites present a

very attractive investment given the city’s shortage of quality office space. The whole project is highly accessible with multiple entrance and exit roads from Jalan Istiadat, Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens and Teluk Likas, as well as over 2300 car parks in the first phase.

The developer reported sales of the residences has been very good over the last 12 months, with the competitive prices and free full furnishing package going down well with local buyers. Units in Pacific Heights – PacifiCity’s first residential block – are priced almost 30% lower than those in the nearby Signal Hill neighborhood.

The developer expects Pacific Heights units to appreciate very well upon completion, especially given the convenience of having all your needs located just an elevator ride away in Pacific Parade and the Lifestyle Mall.

Aeropod Master Plan For more information, visit www.aeropod.com.my

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P Setia’s maiden project in Kota Kinabalu is making headway with the construction of phase one involving the Tanjung Aru railway station and boutique retail office already in progress. Aeropod is a 60-acre integrated development located next to the Kota Kinabalu

International Airport that will include hotels, food and beverage outlets, a shopping mall, offices and shops with international flavor as well as green parks. Aeropod will be the new home of the existing Tanjung Aru railway station, which is part of the 134km Tenom-Tanjung Aru line formerly known as the North Borneo Railway and is the only

operational rail transport system in Sabah. SP Setia will modernize and redevelop the train station, which covers about 18 acres, as the city’s new transport hub.

Photo: Level 2 slab work in progress as at 26 February 2015

S P Setia Progress Report www.PropertyHunter.com.my

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WEST MALAYSIA PROPERTY NEWS

No High-Rise Residences Oversupply In Johor

WEST MALAYSIA

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ohor is certain that albeit the authorities has approved over 80, 000 high-end residential units, there will be no oversupply of such units.

PROPERTY NEWS

Sharing news and information about various issues related to the property industry from Peninsular Malaysia.

No GST On Commercial Units Rental Under RM500 000 A Year Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said the GST will apply if JMBs or management bodies make taxable supplies such as rentals on commercial units exceeding RM500,000 a year.

On November 28 last year, several property-related agencies submitted a petition calling for zero tax for maintenance charges, sinking fund contributions and all related contributions or charges payable.

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he Goods and Services Tax (GST) will not be imposed on rentals of commercial units below RM500,000 a year, announced Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The Prime Minister said the government had also decided that supply services for all stratified residential houses would be GSTexempt.

He said under subsection 18(2) of

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www.gst.customs.gov.my the Goods and Services Act 2014, services for owners of low-cost and medium-cost stratified houses are GST-exempt.

In a written statement, he said that the exemption has been extended to cover all categories of stratified houses, meaning any fees imposed by management bodies and joint management bodies (JMBs) on maintenance and management including sinking fee contributions are exempted from the GST.

On January 5 this year, the Finance Ministry agreed to extend GST exemption from low- and mediumcost properties to all stratified residential properties.

Meanwhile, Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Chua Tee Yong said false input tax credit claims would be one of the challenges for the GST, which will be implemented on April 1, adding that such false claims are often faced by countries like Singapore that have introduced the GST.

Chua said other challenges in the GST implementation include errors made by companies in their GST-compliant software and tax assessment, while urging companies to register before the GST implementation to enable them to qualify for the advisory period.

On the call to postpone the GST implementation, Chua said the government had fully prepared for the implementation since October 2013, adding the new tax regime had been successfully implemented in 169 countries.

He added that used vehicle prices will go down with the approval of the Margin Scheme by the government following appeals from some 4,000 association members and used motorcycle traders.

The scheme prevents double taxation on the used goods, he said.

For more info visit www.gst. customs.gov.my

This is because only 10 percent of the approved units are currently being constructed, said KGV International Property Consultants Executive Director, Samuel Tan. The general feeling is that there will be too many, however they are not being built simultaneously, he said.

As reported, since 2013, high-rise residential projects have been the staple of property developers in Johor. In fact, China’s Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd launched 9,000 units in one go in Danga Bay that year.

Given the incoming supply of highrise properties, the government of Johor issued a freeze on new applications to construct serviced apartments.

Artist’s impression of Danga Bay, Johor In concurring, he noted that certain established areas in Johor, such as Bukit Indah and Tebrau, still see demand for affordable properties priced from RM300,000 to RM400,000.

He added that those that can’t afford landed residential properties will look to affordable high-rise units. So the freeze by the state government should be selective, otherwise it would create pent-up demand.

Looking ahead, Tan said the perception of an oversupply of high-rise residential units within the state could lead to a slowdown in transactions this year.

In its 2015 Property Market report, CH Williams Talhar & Wong (WTW) revealed that the existing supply of high-rise residences increased 2.51 percent in 2014 to 31,322 units from 2013.

The average transaction values of condominiums in the sub-sale market increased from RM400 per sq ft in 2013 to RM450 per sq ft in 2014, up 12.5 percent.

Amendment To Act 118 To Improve Legal System On Housing

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he government is optimistic in tackling the problem of abandoned housing projects following amendments to the Housing Development (Control and Licensing) Act 1966 (Act 118), the Dewan Rakyat was told recently.

additional deposit for housing development licence and Section 8 on cancellation of the sales and purchase agreement if the buyer finds that there is no development on a housing project in six months from the date the agreement was signed.

Deputy Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister, Datuk Halimah Mohd Sadique said the amendments were aimed at improving the legal aspects to enable the National Housing Department and her ministry to take more aggressive action against irresponsible developers.

Halimah said from 2009 to January 31, 2015, 216 abandoned private housing projects were recorded.

However, the amendments to Act 118 had still not been enforced at the moment as the act needed to be enforced together with the Strata Management Act 2013 (Act 757) and Strata Titles Act (amendment) 2013 (Act 318), she said.

Of the 52 projects 21 are in Selangor, Perak (nine), Johor (eight), Pahang (four), Negeri Sembilan (four), Penang (two), Kedah (two), Kelantan (one) and Federal Territory (one).

Nonetheless, from the total, 164 projects were completed while 52 were still in various stages of rehabilitation by the government, she said.

She also added that as at March 2, 2015, 1,018 housing developers and 3,607 board members (of housing companies) were blacklisted by the ministry.

The amendments to Act 118 were passed by the Dewan Rakyat on November 30, 2011 and are expected to be enforced this year.

The amendments to Act 118 include several new provisions, among them, Section 6 on

An industry watcher believed that the freeze should only be applied to certain locations and not “across the board”.

However, Tan said that there is still demand for high-rise developments, especially the affordable ones.

Datuk Halimah Mohd Sadique

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CONTRIBUTOR| Dr. Daniele Gambero

REI Group of Companies CEO and co-founder Dr. Daniele Gambero gives presentations on the Property Market and welcomes feed-back at daniele.g@reigroup.com.my “

Dr. Daniele Gambero

CEO and co-founder of REI Group of Companies Dr. Daniele Gambero is the CEO of strategic marketing consultancy firm REI Group of Companies. He holds an MBA from L. Bocconi University in Milan-Italy, Master in Communication from the University of Michigan Ann Arbour MI – USA, Ph.D in Marketing Strategies and Communication from L. Bocconi University and University of Michigan.

With his vast experience in strategic marketing consultancies, investment studies, researches, property market reports and business valuation globally, the REI Group of Companies helps Malaysian developers with business solutions relating to design, concept, strategic marketing and pricing, advertising and marketing and sale procedures for their residential, commercial and industrial projects since 2007.

Dr. Gambero’s lectures attract large crowds due to his lively presentation of serious topics with deep insight into the Malaysian Property market since 2011.

INNOVATIVE REAL ESTATE Part 2

THE TREASURE HUNT OF THE MALAYSIAN RE MISSING PRODUCT Recently I have been involved in a number of discussions with local and international investors on the qualities of investment grade product and by looking at what is currently offered in theMalaysian market I got very positive about the future of the industry in terms of huge opportunity that both developers and management companies might have available to restore a positive trend for the key industry of construction and development.

I’m talking about the possibility, for those daring to challenge themselves with positively creative ideas, of launching a totally new generation of Real Estate investment grade products to satisfy local and oversea unsatisfied demand. I’m talking about developers concentrating more on developing good quality product, possibly with green rating features, well designed and fitted and professional management companies which should take over the heavy duty of managing commercial properties doing it the right way.

First of all we need to give a proper definition to investment grade product. What is it? Nothing else than a residential, commercial, leisure or industrial (personally I strongly recommend to concentrate on the last three more than the first one as for that it’s really complicated) managed by a professionally prepared highly specialized and with good track of record company.

To better understand the above, we should start looking for the “demand generators” currently abundant in the market and from there comprehend the current demand to finally come to the right product to offer.

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Education is one of the deemed indispensable pillars or foundation to further stimulate the country’s economic growth and tourism is another important factor which will help keeping the growth rate in positive trend. These two important growth factors, if merged, will result in a multifaceted tourismeducational investment opportunity. There is no need to reinvent the wheel as we can give a look at what Australia, UK or USA have been doing in terms of student hostels to have a good idea of how to redesign spaceby having in mind Return on Investment. We need to put aside greediness first and design proper “student living space” by considering that what students need is yes a place to sleep but also a place where to quietly study alone or, if preferred, in group with others and if it comes with some features such as gym, swimming pool, squash or badminton and jogging track even better.

A BIT OF BASIC MATH Identified the demand – offer subject let’s make now some basic calculation of how today the demand is addressed and compare this with how it should be addressed. Everybody will be surprised to find out that what today is assumed to be a 2+2=4 formula is actually resulting in an astonishing 2+2=3….maybe even less.

Kajang, the booming epicenter of the Southern Corridor of Klang Valley, is home to more than 20 universities with a huge student population permanently looking for proper accommodation. Less than 2 years ago one of the big universities there told me: “you please give us proper accommodation for more than 80 students and we will be more than willing to organize a bus service to ferry them to the campus”…. Got the message?

But what we normally find in the market are individual actions in terms of student accommodation such as a residential unit of 800 to 900 sq. ft. stuffed with two or even three layers beds hosting up to 10 humans, each of them paying a mere monthly RM250 per bed.

No doubt the math here is saying that with an initial investment of RM400,000 to purchase the unit and the above collection of rental our “gross” return will be more than 7% Then the headaches will start: collection is normally a nightmare, neighbors will for sure complaining about the noise that these 10 young adults will generate in such a small environment, every week or two there will be some repairs to be done to the toiletskitchen-sofa and so on, every year there will be part of the furnishing to be replaced, every month the management fees will come in and keep on counting on the “hidden costs” of such an arrangement. At the end the landlord will start scratching his head if accommodating students is really a good idea as the supposed-to-be high return, after being eroded by all the above will end up with a mere 3 to 4% without counting is the high cost for the Panadol to alleviate a bit the related headaches. Result here is that 2+2 is no more resulting in a round 4 but will be decreased to a 2.5 to 3, is it worth?

Investment grade product in this case is supposed to be a purpose built student hostel with small single and double bedrooms, study rooms, properly designed and fitted living areas, laundry room, small kitchen with all the right appliances and so on. The purposed built hostel will also have some basic features such as gym, squash and possibly a jogging track. Most of the services and the use of features will be offered to the students at very reasonable rates. Normally this type of hostel has also direct agreement with the university getting the “Student services department” to handle the collection and dealing with one payer only, the university itself. At the moment in Malaysia we do not have such a development yet but I’m hoping to see it soon, however there are highly specialized companies which are offering a “turn-key” product for owners of shop lots interested in looking into a long term lease for student accommodation and after checking them I’ve been recommending their services to few investors. Returns here are definitely headache free and in the region of a good 7 to 8%. Final result in this case will be not a DIY business but a positively tested business model which will get you to find out that 2+2 is actually equal to 5 or even 6….

If you are interested let’s get in touch and work on this together.

Sources: REI group archives, The Purple House

While the author makes reasonable efforts to present information which he believes to be reliable, the author makes no representation that the information or opinions contained in this article is accurate and complete. Readers are advised to seek specific professional advice before acting on the views.

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WEST MALAYSIA PROPERTY NEWS

Property Prices To Increase By 6.25 Says REHDA

Tropicana Launched The Residences Regionally

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ropicana Corp Berhad has simultaneously launched Tropicana’s The Residences in Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, China, Indonesia, and Hong Kong recently as reported by the Edge Market.

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roperty prices will likely increase by 6.2 percent once the goods and services tax (GST) is implemented on 1 April as certain building materials are taxed under the regime, said the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (REHDA).

94 percent of the survey’s respondents are very worried over the GST’s impact on overall business costs, said REHDA President Datuk Seri Fateh Iskandar Mohamed Mansor at the launch of its’ property industry survey results for 2H 2014, noting that GST is one of the key issues presently faced by the property sector.

Other equally important issues are financing for buyers and challenges involving the utility service providers as well as local authorities.

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As a cherry top, the Malaysian launch, which featured a 3D projection mapping which showcased The Residences was recognized by the Malaysian Book of Record as the biggest outdoor HD projection mapping screen yet in the country.

To illustrate how serious things are, Iskandar revealed that launches of commercial and residential properties for 2H 2014 fell 81.6 percent and 62.9 percent respectively from 1H 2014.

He said that most distressing are first-time buyers wanting but (being) unable to purchase affordable housing, adding that loan rejections over sales climbed seven percent from 2013 to 2014.

Meanwhile, issues with utility service providers are on ensuring proper access to water, sewage and electricity for their new projects, he said.

Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Yau Kok Seng said that The Residences is definitely going to become an iconic landmark, as it appears to be the only swanky and luxury property located in Kuala Lumpur’s Golden Triangle and also seated on top of W Hotel.

The 55-storey mixed-use development will come up on a 1.28-acre (0.51 hectare) freehold parcel next to Suria KLCC, which includes 355 units of The Residences’ fully-furnished units from levels 25 to 53.

Meanwhile, W Hotel will have 153 rooms from levels eight to 23 and will be managed by Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide.

The Residences has a gross development value of 800 million ringgit and is scheduled to be completed in 2017, and will be managed by Tropicana once completed. Each unit is sold for 1.7 million ringgit or RM2500 psf.

There are four types of residences offered, where its clients will be treated to conceivable luxury and amenity including concierge and housekeeping services, and a home-care programme which is ideal for jet setters.

On the other hand, facilities like a salt-water infinity pool, forestthemed lounge, multipurpose area on the roof and hotel-like services such as concierge, laundry and drycleaning are also offered.

According to the group, the project will have resource-and energyefficient features in daily operations like powering lifts and other utilities.

The development is designed by international architecture, interior design, urban planning and engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill who also designed Dubai’s Burj Khalifa and New York’s One World Trade Centre.

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hares in integrated property developer MCT Bhd rose to a high of RM1.43 and ended the day at RM1.33, up five sen or 3.91% from its placement price of RM1.28.

The counter made its debut on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia with 13.25 million shares done. This follows the completion of its reverse takeover of GW Plastics Holdings Bhd through the acquisition of MCT Consortium Bhd. MCT announced that Philippinelisted Ayala Land Inc and pilgrim fund Lembaga Tabung Haji (LTH) are its anchor investors, confirming a StarBiz report.

Ayala Land, which has a market capitalisation of about RM44bil, took a 9.16% stake in the company valued at RM156.4mil through its subsidiary Regent Wise Investments Ltd. Ayala Land announced in a filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange that the minority stake would enable it to expand its footprint in South-East Asia, in line with its diversification goals.

Bernard Vincent O. Dy, the president and chief executive officer of Ayala Land, has also been appointed a director to MCT board.

Meanwhile, LTH holds a 10% stake valued at RM170.9mil.

Moreover, high development charges, inconsistent policies/ guidelines, slow approval processes by local authorities such as town councils only compound matters.

He also urged the government on a state and federal level ought to engage the private sector in addressing these issues effectively, in particular to increase the purchasing power of Malaysians.

Philippines Top Developer Ayala Land Acquired Stakes In Malaysia Property Firm

“The fact that we have two very prominent investors is an indication that people see value in the company in the short term and long term,” said MCT executive director Lim Kok Boon.

From left; David Mizan Hashim; group CEO of Tropicana, Dato’ Yau Kok Seng; and managing director of Tropicana Group, Datuk Edmund Kong

He added that there were potential synergies between Ayala Land and MCT, as the two parties would be able to leverage on each other’s expertise.

“They are very international in character and they have been investing all over the world.

That’s probably a great synergy for us moving forward in that area,” said Lim. MCT chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tong Seech Wi said the company had been able to maintain a gross profit margin of 44.3% on average for the last three years, due to among others, its in-house arm, which specialises in development planning, architectural and engineering design, quantity surveying and procurement, interior design, project management and construction.

MRCB Buys German Embassy Land ambassador’s official residence used to be, for RM259.16 million.

“The gross profit margin can be maintained because the cost can be contained and made efficient,” Lim said.

Tong said the company would focus on the affordable housing segment in the near term, due to the current subdued property market.

“We have to strategise to come up with the right product mix and the right design so we can ride out this period,” he said.

MRCB group managing director Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din and the German Ambassador, Holger Michael at the signing of the sale and purchase agreement for MRCB’s purchase of the German Embassy land for nearly RM260 million

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he nation’s capital is set to lose more of its foreign diplomatic corp as the Germans have joined their British and French counterparts in selling off prime development land in the city, reported The Rakyat Post.

The latest embassy land sale was inked today by the Germans with Malaysian Resources Corporation Bhd (MRCB).

No details were revealed as to what MRCB plans to develop on the landplot – likely to be high-rise office towers – but Group Managing Director Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din said in a statement that land banking is an on-going process for all developers like MRCB because it is crucial for business growth.

He noted that the strategic location of the land within the immediate vicinity of KLCC is undeniable, having easy access and excellent transport infrastructure.

The land plot is also close to numerous Grade-A office towers, 5-star hotels and the Suria KLCC shopping centre.

It is selling the 7,552.2 sqm plot at Jalan Kia Peng, where the German

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WEST MALAYSIA PROPERTY NEWS

China Developer Launches US$1 Billion Melaka Project

Mah Sing Group Receives Frost & Sullivan Excellence in Growth – Building Construction Industry Award

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in Eco Marine Group Properties Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Xinyuan China, will invest US$1 billion (RM3.6 billion) in a mixed development project in Klebang, Melaka next year, reported Bernama.

Its President Datuk Jacky Zhang Zhengang said the project, comprising three major property segments – tourism, commercial and residential – would be built on a 68-hectare of reclaimed land facing the Straits of Malacca.

Melaka River Kuala Lumpur, which also serves as Xinyuan China’s Southeast Asia regional headquarters.

Touching on the residential aspect of the project, he said different class designs for villas, bungalows and apartments would be incorporated to meet the needs of local and foreign buyers including from China.

The company expects most of the residential units to be taken up within a year after being offered to the public.

He said the project, spanning about six years with a gross development value (GDV) of around US$5 billion, would kick off in stages starting with the development of a theme park in October next year.

Meantime, the reclamation works on the seafront will start in May this year and expected to be completed in June 2016.

“We have a total investment goal in the next four to five years, the total investment can reach not less than US$1 billion in Melaka,” he said.

Zhang said the company had chosen Melaka, particularly Klebang, as it was strategically located along the coastal stretch of the tourism belt, mid-way between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

“In the other regions close to Kuala Lumpur and some other tourism destinations like in Sabah, Penang and some island tourist hotspots, we are glad to do investment for these kind of venues in the future,” he added.

He said this to media after the recent launch of Xin-Eco Marine Group Properties Sdn Bhd in

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ah Sing Group Berhad (Mah Sing) was recognized with the 2015 Frost & Sullivan Excellence in Growth Building Construction Industry Award, at an awards banquet held at the Mandarin Oriental recently.

40 per cent reduction in carbon emission by 2020, Mah Sing has actively incorporated green features in its products and adopted environmental friendly and sustainable construction practices to reduce its carbon footprint.

Ms. Harpreet Kaur, Energy & Environmental Research Associate said that Mah Sing has managed to remain resilient in the challenging property development market in Malaysia with its market driven strategies.

“We are honored to accept this award from Frost & Sullivan, a leading growth consulting company. This achievement is attributable to my great and talented team at Mah Sing. Further to building quality homes, it is my vision to build premier lifestyles. I am a believer of innovation and creativity,” said Mr. Ng Chai Yong, Chief Executive Officer of Mah Sing.

She added that Mah Sing’s strategic and well-planned business model and strategies have translated into a strong CAGR of 28% from year 2010 to 2014.

“Mah Sing has also recorded the highest growth in the property development market in Malaysia with its proven strategy of creating high quality, affordable, and sustainable homes and properties,” she said, adding that the company’s developments are strategically located in key business and leisure locations.

Ms Kaur also said that in line with Malaysia’s vision to achieve a

Reduction held in Sendai, Japan.

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Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin

apan has reaffirmed its desire to take part in the Kuala LumpurSingapore high-speed train project, according to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

This was conveyed to him by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at their meeting on the sidelines of the Third United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk

Notably, Abe had expressed Japan’s interest to be involved in the project’s international bidding process in November last year to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak during a bilateral meeting between the two leaders at the sidelines of the 25th Asean Summit in Myanmar.

Muhyiddin noted that the highspeed train project was decided by the governments of Singapore and Malaysia to be implemented by the private sector, with the offer made through an open tender.

“Generally, we are attracted by the Shinkansen system (Japan’s highspeed train system). The system

“All these will be taken into account in our assessment in selecting the party to be involved when the tender is opened.”

In awarding the project, Muhyiddin said it was also important that Malaysia benefits from technology transfer.

“Besides this, the financing aspects must also be attractive so that the overall package is the best on offer.

All these have to be taken into consideration.”

and other ancillary facilities. QD Asia Pacific is a subsidiary of Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Co.

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IMB and Maybank’s respective investment banking arms, CIMB Investment Bank Bhd (CIMB) and Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB), have entered into an agreement with Cititower Sdn Bhd for a 20-year RM3.2 billion syndicated Islamic term financing (ITF), as reported in The Star.

Team Mah Sing is committed to live up to the brand’s promise: Building Premier Lifestyles

is efficient, uses sophisticated technology and, effective safetywise because it has yet to record an accident or death,” he said.

He revealed that he had told Abe that the project is in the fine tuning stage by Malaysia’s Land Public Transport Commission, Economic Planning Unit (EPU) and other related agencies.

The deputy prime minister noted that the Japanese “appear to be pushing quite aggressively. They are very keen knowing Malaysia and Singapore have arrived at a consensus to carry out the project. Maybe, they see this as an opportunity to help their company come to Malaysia.”

And while the tender had not been opened, Muhyiddin is confident that it would attract various interests, including China.

Maybank And CIMB Agree On RM3.2 Billion Deal With Cititower

Mr Ng further added, “Life is about continuous learning and improvement and this is my motto.

The world is constantly changing and as a market-driven developer, it is our trade to stay ahead of the market. We are committed to live up to our brand’s promise, which is to build a premier lifestyle for you.”

Xinyuan China was founded in 1997 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange on Dec 12, 2007.

The Xinyuan Group is involved in residential, commercial and management of properties as well as film and entertainment, and is expanding and diversifying its markets globally in line with the Chinese Government’s “Go Global” strategy.

Japan Wants To Be Involved In KL-SG High Speed Train Project

CIMB and Maybank IB will act

as the joint mandated lead arrangers and book runners for the syndicated ITF to part finance an ongoing mixed commercial development project within the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) that is expected to be completed by mid-2020. Cititower, which is a joint-venture company between KLCC (Holdings) Sdn Bhd and QD Asia Pacific Ltd, will develop the project comprising a Grade A office tower, a hotel tower, retail podium

The project, which commenced in January 2012, will have an estimated total net lettable area of 2.84 million sqft consisting of 1.72 million sqft of office tower, 0.65 million sqft of hotel tower and 0.47 million sqft of retail podium. Tengku Datuk ZafrulTengku Abdul Aziz, the Group Chief Executive Officer of CIMB Group Holding Bhd said that this financing transaction was a testament of its proven track record in delivering financing solutions for its corporate clients.

Adding that this also demonstrated the continuing popularity of Islamic finance as a source of funding, he said CIMB was pleased to be part of this collaboration for the “next high-profile integrated mixed commercial development in the KLCC Precinct”.

Meanwhile, Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, Maybank Group President and Chief Executive Officer said that it was grateful for Cititower and its shareholders’ confidence in the group’s ability to ensure the success of the project. He added that by leveraging their strength as one of the top global leaders in Islamic banking, Maybank has ensured that it provided a competitive and innovative financing solution of long term value to Cititower.

Cititower Chairman Datuk Hashim Wahir said that the iconic mixed commercial towers developed

by Cititower are designed with development components that will increase the vibrancy and value-add to the overall commercial branding in the KLCC Precinct.

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WEST MALAYSIA PROPERTY NEWS

GST Not To Affect House Rent And Maintainance Fee Said Customs

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he Royal Malaysian Customs said the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) should not be used as an excuse to increase house rents as well as maintenance bills for residential properties which are GSTexempt, reported by Property Guru.

According to Raizam Mustapha, senior assistant director of Customs II, Real Property, Construction and Professionals sector, the development of buildings or land used for residential, agricultural land or for general purposes is not subject to GST. Raizam said that any property in Malaysia categorised as residential is exempted (excluded) from GST in a GST media briefing related to housing and property sector recently.

She added that buildings that are not deemed residential buildings are considered commercial and subjected to six percent GST. To be implemented from 1 April at the rate of six percent, the GST will replace the Sales and Services Tax (SST) which totals 16 percent.

She noted that maintenance bills are also exempted from GST in order to prevent occupants,

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particularly those in stratified residential properties, from being burdened.

Raizam added that any charges related to the maintenance bill of a building is determined by Management Corporation (MC) or Joint Management Body (JMB) and should not be associated with GST. Presently, the MC or JMB is exempt from registering with the GST; hence, there should be no increase in maintenance bill.

For cleaning purposes, the JMB or MC may get the services of parties (companies) which are not registered for GST, which has a turnover not exceeding RM500,000, said Raizam.

She also revealed that residential land developers, under the GST era, can still recover the costs for developing public facilities such as religious houses, roads, schools and housing estates from the government via the input tax.

However, developers can only make the six percent claim if they surrender the public facilities built to the government.

Mixed Outlook For Housing Market

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he number of Malaysian residential properties that were sold in the first three quarters of 2014 increased by three percent to about 175,000 units while aggregate value rose by 19 percent to over RM60 billion on a year-on-year basis, according to a report from RAM ratings.

Specifically, the number of houses sold in Selangor during the said period dipped by 2 percent to 45,000 units, while Kuala Lumpur suffered a larger drop of 5 percent to reach about 11,000 units But versus the 2012 peak, transaction numbers in the state plummeted by 21 percent, while that in Kuala Lumpur dived by 44 percent.

Nevertheless, the total value of transactions in Selangor rose by 6 percent to about RM20 billion, while that in Kuala Lumpur climbed by 14 percent to nearly RM9 billion.

In contrast, the number of residential properties sold in Penang increased by 4 percent to more than 26,000 units, while aggregate transaction value surged by 13 percent to 9 billion ringgit during the first three quarters of 2014.

Likewise, Johor saw a 13 percent uptick in the volume of transactions to about 27,000 units, while total transaction value swelled by 36 percent to around RM9 billion.

Additionally, the total value of

How Will GST Impact Malaysia’s Property Market

housing loan applications dipped to about RM165 billion in 9M 2014 from around RM170 billion in the same period in 2013. But only RM90 billion were approved, up 2 percent from the corresponding period in 2013 but the slowest pace since 2012.

Looking ahead, home buyers are expected to turn cautious due to possible price increases amid the upcoming Goods and Services Tax (GST) and more economic uncertainties this year. Transaction activity is also unlikely to surge prior to GST’s implementation, and lenders will continue to impose tight lending criteria.

The prices of residential properties are also expected to be kept in check by soft buying sentiments and stiff competition. But the biggest question is whether Johor can sustain the sale of houses.

On a positive note, demand for affordable home is forecasted to remain strong this year. Cost of financing will likely remain conducive despite a possible 25bps hike in the overnight policy rate (OPR) and the move to a new benchmark regime. Furthermore, more foreigners may enter the local housing market to take advantage of the weaker ringgit.

cost and development charges, as well as stamp duty and quit rent.

Another problem is the shortage of land in urban areas like Penang and Klang Valley, which is exacerbating the cost of houses.

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he government of Malaysia recently rolled out the new Goods & Services Tax (GST) on 1 April 2015. But many people are still in the dark as to its actual impact on the country’s property market, especially the housing sector.

To inform and help prospective real estate buyers, PropertyGuru Malaysia has and compared the new tax regime with the old one to give home hunters an idea of its potential effects.

DIFFERENCE WITH OLD TAX SYSTEM Based on the previous tax system (Sales Tax Act of 1972), basic building materials like bricks, cement and floor tiles fall under the First Schedule Goods. This means they are not subject to a sales tax, while all other construction materials incur a sales tax of five percent as they fall under the Second Schedule Goods.

In comparison, the GST imposes a higher rate of 6 percent for all building materials and input services such as those provided by contractors and engineers, leading to higher cost for home builders.

Basically, the new tax regime passes the cost of Standard-Rated goods to the final buyers, while the tax of Zero-Rated goods is refunded by the government. As for ExemptRated items, the input tax is solely

shouldered by the seller and they are entitled to refunds from the input taxes.

GST TO PUSH RESIDENTIAL PRICES UP Specifically, residential properties fall under Exempt-Rated goods, meaning they are not subject to GST tax. However, prices of houses would still be affected as the construction materials used to build them are not exempted.

Additionally, developers cannot get a refund for the input taxes as houses are not Zero-Rated items.

Consequently, home builders would be forced to accept a lower profit margin by absorbing a higher cost or raise the prices of their products in a bid to offset the higher cost.

According to experts, if the market is healthy and favourable, developers could pass on the cost to home buyers, while they could be willing to absorb if the residential market deteriorates. Nevertheless, profit making is still their main objective. Why would they build and sell houses if it doesn’t make any financial sense? Even market observers believe that the new tax regime could increase home prices by about five to 10 percent.

In addition, the GST could compound the woes plaguing the country’s housing market such as pricey land cost which includes conversion charges, premium

COMMERCIAL & INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY SECTOR MOST AFFECTED Given that commercial and industrial properties are not ‘Exempt Rated’ goods but falls under ‘Standard Rated’ items, the GST will have a greater impact on these segments.

For instance, a shop sold for RM3 million will be subject to GST of RM180,000, which will be borne by the buyer. As a result, the rental yield for the investor would decrease unless he can find tenants willing to pay a higher rent.

When the same property is leased out, an additional 6 percent GST will be imposed on the tenant. For example, a RM10,000 monthly will include an additional RM600 tax.

Given this situation, landlords are advised to review their leasing agreement so that it will include relevant GST clauses.

More importantly, their monthly rental mustn’t be too much as it will include a 6 percent GST. If it’s too high, they could discourage potential tenants.

would face higher cost as they need to set up an administrative process to collect GST when leasing or renting out commercial & industrial space.

They also need to carefully monitor their cash flow as GST must be paid when incurred or billed not when collected. Given this mandate, landlords are required to pay their taxes on time even if a tenant’s payment is late.

CONCLUSION Looking ahead, a one-time increase in property prices across is expected across all sectors once the GST has been factored in by developers in light of the higher cost of construction materials and necessary building services.

But because the commercial real estate sector would suffer a heftier increase in cost as compared to the residential segment, investors may divert their capital into the latter, especially into second-hand houses.

This is because not only is this sector cheaper than commercial and industrial properties as well as new houses, they are also exempt from the new tax system.

Nevertheless, prices in the secondary residential market could also trend upward to mirror the higher cost of new houses.

For upcoming commercial and industrial properties purchased before they are ready, buyers are subjected to an additional 6 percent GST. As the price of the building is billed based on the extent of completion, the tax is similarly billed in stages.

Additionally, property investors

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How Much Is Really Needed To Qualify For Affrodable Housing?

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roperty Insight Malaysia has recently published an article by Loan Street Insight on How Much is Really Needed to Qualified for Affordable Housing?

The article reported that just four to five years ago (date of writing: Feb 2014), it was possible to own a decent-sized, quality condominium unit in urban centres like Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Johor Baru and Penang for approximately RM200,000. They were in fact, quite common.

From 2010 up till 2012, the Government had considered the price of RM220,000 to be within the “affordable” housing range. This was evident when it first launched the My First Home Scheme or Skim Rumah Pertamaku (SRP) for houses priced up to RM220,000.

However, towards the tail-end of 2012, it was becoming increasingly evident that houses hovering around that price was becoming more of a rarity.

Genuine first-time house buyers were gradually finding themselves being priced out of the market.

Recognising the changing property price landscape, the Government in 2013 bumped the maximum price range for SRP eligibility to RM400,000.

The move garnered ridicule from both sides of the spectrum for different reasons. On one hand, lower income groups found it laughable that a price tag of RM400,000 for a house could even be considered “affordable” as it was far beyond their reach.

On the other hand, the younger and more urbane groups who were striving to purchase their first home derided the ceiling price of RM400,000 as being out of reach. Their contention was that prices for an acceptable standard of housing was already priced beyond RM400,000.

If anything, the Government’s efforts at trying to determine what is “affordable” shows us that it should be assessed based on our personal situation.

And, what might be affordable to you today may no longer provide as comparable a standard of living to what was affordable to you five years ago. Regardless of what is affordable to you, how much is really needed to purchase an “affordable” house? Let us examine house prices ranging from RM100,000 to RM600,000.

Refer Table 1 AFFORDABILITY OF INITIAL ENTRY COSTS Firstly, there are the entry costs of purchasing a house. Table 1 illustrates the kind of upfront cash one must have to purchase a house in a given price range.

There is the standard 10% down payment, along with the rest of the legal fees and stamp duties which follow a scheduled fee structure.

The structure can be viewed at http://loanstreet.com.my/learningcentre/entrycosts-buying-property If the entry costs above look discouraging, fret not. There is hope yet. If you are a first-time buyer, there are certain schemes and methods that you can take advantage of to ease your purchasing burden.

THESE INCLUDE (REFER TO TABLE 2): 1) A 50% stamp duty discount on the Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) for properties priced up to RM400,000.

2) SRP, which allows you to take a 100% loan for properties priced up to RM400,000, negating the need to pay the initial 10% down payment.

Even if one does not qualify for the above schemes, there is still the EPF (Employees Provident Fund) or KWSP’s (Kumpulan Wang Simpanan Pekerja) scheme that allows you to withdraw money from your EPF Account II to help pay for the down payment of the house.

Refer Table 2 AFFORDABILITY OF LOAN Even if one can afford the initial cash outlay to purchase a house, one must still be able to qualify for a mortgage loan to proceed with the purchase. When assessing whether a housing loan is affordable, there are two criteria that must be considered.

Firstly, do you meet the minimum acceptable level of income you must have before a bank can even approve your housing loan?

Secondly, even if you do qualify for the home loan, after paying off your monthly instalments, realistically, could you get by on the remaining amount?

It would be unwise to enter into a home purchase if your answer to either of the above is “No”.

Table 3 indicates the estimated minimum level of household income one must have to qualify for a loan of the given amount in the year 2014. It also shows clearly the estimated monthly instalments one must pay.

These calculations have not even taken into consideration any other commitments that you may have.

Refer Table 3 CONCLUSION While your personal financial situation may be unique, the costs associated with the purchase of a home are somewhat set according to price.

The best way to know what you can afford is to measure your personal finances against the required costs.

Finally, whether or not you are a first time home purchaser, remember to take advantage of Loanstreet’s online resources and expertise to help you through your purchase and home loan application.

Developer To Set Up Training Academy For TRX Project

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roperty developer, Lend Lease Projects (M) Sdn Bhd will explore the setting up of a training academy for its major project, the lifestyle quarter of the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), as part of its evolving partnership with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).

According to its Managing Director, Dinesh K. Nambiar, the academy will be a pilot project for the Asian region and aimed to advance the skills and competencies of key workers with the introduction of its flagship Safety Supervisor Apprenticeship Programme.

As Lend Lease has the training curriculum, said Dinesh, TRX is going to be the first major project that they use to commit as a training ground, in which the ‘classroom’ that is to be translated into a project.

On innovation and improving the productivity, Dinesh said Lend Lease will also be working on the Industrialised Building System in TRX and set a new benchmark in the construction industry while hoping to reduce the dependency on foreign labour in Malaysia.

TRX will be one of the largest developments in Lend Lease’s current portfolio of global projects, where it has a 60 per cent partnership in the lifestyle quarter

with TRX’s master developer, 1MDB Real Estate.

The TRX lifestyle quarter, forecast to have a gross development value of 8 billion ringgit upon completion is a retail-led mixeduse development of over 6.88 hectares while aimed to become a global hub for international finance and business.

Since Lend Lease inked an agreement with CIDB in April last year, the Australianheadquartered company has hosted many CIDB seminars on construction safety practices.

It also continued to participate in key events to promote the adoption of international best practices in construction safety methods for the industry, among them in plant and crane operations, scaffolding and welding.

Lend Lease is also working to enhance work site safety training in all six CIDB-owned Malaysian Construction Academy (Akademi Binaan Malaysia – ABM).

Meanwhile, CIDB Chief Executive Datuk Seri Dr Judin Abdul Karim, said TRX will be made a showcase and centre of excellence for the safety standards in construction industry in the country, with the expertise of Lend Lease.

Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) artist’s impression

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89

WEST MALAYSIA PROPERTY NEWS

Property Developers Urged To Remain Vigilant

Iskandar Confidents Over RM3 Billion Investment This Year

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conomic growth corridor Iskandar Malaysia is confident of achieving the 30 billion ringgit target set for new investments this year based on its achievement since its launch nine years ago, as reported in Star Property.

Government in achieving progress by offering quality and affordable products to the masses will continue.”

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Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz and KK Chua

ourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz called on property developers to be vigilant in their cost measures in order to ensure that properties remain attractive following the implementation of the goods and service tax (GST).

As responsible property developers, they should take the lead in addressing problems of overdevelopment, he said at yesterday’s Malaysia Property Insight Prestigious Developer Awards 2015.

He noted that the inaugural award acknowledges and highlights the quality developments of Malaysia’s best property developers, including their landmark projects aimed at helping the country achieve First World nation status by 2020.

Among the top 10 developers are MKH Bhd, Glomac Bhd, Gamuda Land Sdn Bhd, Mah Sing Group Bhd and IJM Land Bhd. Completing the list are Sime Darby Property Bhd, Tropicana Corporation Bhd, Sunway Bhd, UOA Development Bhd and UEM Sunrise Bhd. Malaysia Building Society Bhd clinched the Most Innovative Financier award while I&P Group’s Datuk Jamaludin Osman received the personality of the year award.

“I hope the social responsibility of developers to continue helping the

documentation of the purchase”.

Asok, chairman of the Royal Group, was ranked 20th among Singapore’s top-50 richest, with a net worth of US$1.4 billion, by Forbes last year.

The Intermark comprises four parcels, office blocks Integra Tower and the Vista Tower, DoubleTree Hotel and the Intermark Mall. All four parcels were put up for sale about a year or more ago, but it was only last week that the 39-storey Integra office block was sold to Retirement Fund Inc, also known as Kumpulan Wang Persaraan, for RM1.065 billion, with an annual yield of 6%.

DoubleTree By Hilton In Kuala Lumpur Sold For RM388 Million

The mixed integrated development is located at the Jalan Ampang-Jalan Tun Razak intersection in the city.

eal estate tycoon Asok Kumar Hiranandani of the Royal Group has bought DoubleTree Hotel, the second parcel of The Intermark to be sold in April 2015.

Negotiations are ongoing with local and foreign parties for the other two parcels, Vista Tower and the Intermark Mall, sources said. Vista Tower was formerly known as the Empire Tower. It went through massive refurbishment and today is a spanking new 62-storey, grade A office block with about 555,000 square feet of space. The Intermark Mall has about 200,000 sq ft.

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The Singapore-based Royal Group Holdings, a property group which leans more towards the hospitality sector, bought the 540-room, four-star hotel for RM388 million, or about RM700,000 per room, a source from Royal Group Holdings said.

A hotel employee said the hotel

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generally had an occupancy rate of 75%.

According to the Royal Group website, the company was established in 1947 and its main business is in the development and management of real estate.

Its portfolio includes a wide range of residential, industrial and commercial properties that include offices, malls and hotels with assets scattered in different parts of the world.

The source said the company was currently “going through the legal

According to industry sources, when the mall was first put on sale, the entire four components were priced at more than RM2bil. Due to its “hefty” price tag, the asset which

sits on two hectares, was broken up and put on sale as four separate components.

Sources said the other two components will be sold this year.

“There are interested parties, both local and foreign,” an industry source said. As to why BlackRock Inc is divesting, a source said the fund’s life was coming to an end and BlackRock has to divest.

BlackRock came about this highly priced property when it bought Macquarie Global Property Advisors (MGPA) in 2013, an Australian-based private equity real estate fund advisory company, in order to expand its real estate business in the Asia-Pacific region and Europe. When BlackRock bought MGPA, the deal doubled BlackRock’s real estate assets to US$25bil, and gave the company its first exposure to Asian property.

The Intermark was wholly owned and developed by MGPA Asia Developments, a subsidiary of MGPA. MGPA Asia Fund II bought the Intermark assets in 2007, comprising a portfolio of assets - Empire Tower, City Square, Crown Princess and subsequently, Plaza Ampang.

Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) chief executive officer, Datuk Ismail Ibrahim said it had already received 3 billion ringgit in new investments in the first quarter of the year. IRDA is the regulatory authority mandated to plan, promote and facilitate the development of Iskandar Malaysia.

The new investments is said to come from the manufacturing, services and property sectors and an official announcement on the breakdown of the investments would be made by the end of the month.

development and progress to Penang Yang di-Pertua Negeri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas during his visit to Kota Iskandar here.

Ismail commented that is was not easy to attract strong interest from domestic and foreign investors to Iskandar Malaysia as it is facing competition not only from other economic growth corridors in the country but also from other countries in the region.

Most Of Malaysian Household Debt Contributed By Property Purchases

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eputy Finance Minister, Datuk Ahmad Maslan reported that the ratio of Malaysian households’ financial assets to household debt in 2014 is 214 percent.

Ahmad said that it should be seen as good news since most of the debt was incurred for property acquisition.

The other corridors are the Northern Corridor Economic Region, the East Coast Economic Region, the Sabah Development Corridor and the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy.

While last year’s household debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of 87.1 percent can be considered as high within the Asian region, it is not worrisome since households in Malaysia have a high level of asset ownership relative to their debt, according to media report.

He added that although they have surpassed the investment target since its launch, more effort is needed to continue attracting investments to Iskandar Malaysia.

The main reason for the growth in household debt is rising house prices, he said, with purchases of residential properties accounting for nearly 50 percent.

Ismail added that the party is far from over and thus all stakeholders have to work even harder for Iskandar Malaysia to stay attractive and relevant.

He added that if the property industry reduces house prices and offers more units of affordable homes, the household debt can definitely be lowered, as to address concerns that the high levels of household debt in Malaysia could

He said this after giving a closeddoor briefing on Iskandar Malaysia’s

Iskandar Malaysia flagship zones

put the country at risk.

He shared that with respect to the household debt to GDP ratio of 87.1 percent, residential property acquisition accounted for 45.7 percent, followed by vehicle purchases (16.6 percent) and personal loans (15.7 percent).

Over the past few years, household assets to debt ratio consistently stood above 200 percent, at 220 percent, 223 percent, 225 percent and 235 percent for the years 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010 respectively.

He hoped the household debt may be lowered to less than 75 percent of GDP just like in 2010, via financial literacy programmes, improving household income through entrepreneurship activities and the government and private sector offering more affordable homes.

One of the many weekly saturated property shows in popular malls around Peninsular Malaysia

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91

INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY NEWS

Hotspot Property Investment For OWFs

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here are Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) snapping up properties?

Asia Property Report has recently published an article on the top real estate investment destinations for hundreds of thousands of OFWs who are based in the Middle East, aside from the obvious choice of Manila Metro.

INTERNATIONAL

Some 1,000 OFWs in the United Arab Emirates had participated in a survey that was conducted as part of the two-day Philippine Property and Investment Exhibition (PPIE) in Abu Dhabi recently. Philippine Ambassador to the UAE, Grace Relucio Princesa commented that PPIE comes at an opportune time as many Filipinos working overseas now look at real estate as a major investment option.

PROPERTY NEWS

Catch up on the latest property and real estate news, views and analysis from across the globe featured

Perth Remains Australia’s Fastest Growing City Brisbane’s annual growth rate fell to its lowest level in over a decade (1.7 percent), but it’s still growing faster than Canberra (1.2 percent).

At June 2014, WA’s population was 2.57 million people, which represents 11 percent of the total Australian population.

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erth is the fastest-growing capital city in Australia and the fourth to hit two million people, data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows.

As reported by Perth Now, Perth’s population grew by 2.5 percent in the 12 months to June 2014 – an extra 48,400 people – with 2.02 million people now calling Greater Perth home.

Phil Browning, from the ABS said that this was a significant milestone, given just 30 years ago Perth’s population lagged behind Adelaide.

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Aerial view of Perth metropolitan area He said that in 1983, Adelaide just beat Perth to the one million mark.

However, since that time, Perth’s population has more than doubled, whereas Adelaide has grown by less than one third.

Browning added that Adelaide’s population increased by 1 percent in 2013-14 with only Hobart (0.6 percent) having a slower rate of population growth.

Sydney grew by 84,200 people to 4.8 million, but Melbourne (4.4 million people) is closing the gap in the race to be the first city home to five million.

The number of people living in WA grew 2.2 percent (54,400 people), the fastest of all states and territories and well above the national rate of 1.6 percent.

The largest population growth in WA occurred in the outer suburban areas of Greater Perth.

Baldivis, in the city’s southwest, recorded the largest increase, up 3,500 people. Ellenbrook and Forrestdale / Harrisdale / Piara Waters followed, with 2,400 more people.

Yanchep and Byford had the next largest increases, up 1,700 and 1,300 people respectively.

In the five years to 2014, Forrestdale / Harrisdale / Piara Waters more

than tripled in population and Baldivis more than doubled.

Outside of Perth, Busselton and Karratha had the largest growth, increasing by 850 and 750 people respectively, followed by Australind / Leschenault (650 people).

Areas in WA that recorded population declines included the Goldfields (down 800 people or 1.8 per cent), Kimberley (down 390 people or 1 per cent) and Wheatbelt South (down 70 people or 0.3 per cent).

Greater Perth had a population density of 315 people per square kilometre, while the rest of WA had 0.2 people per square kilometer.

In the year to 2014, the density of Greater Perth increased by 7.5 people per square kilometre.

The Perth suburbs with the highest population densities were Tuart Hill / Joondalup, Scarborough, Innaloo / Doubleview and North Perth.

She said that the event offers an opportunity for others to learn more about the burgeoning property industry in the country.

Whereas, the Philippines itself has been forecast as Asia’s next economic miracle and investing there would likely yield better returns than elsewhere in Asia.

Meanwhile, in Metro Manila, several high-profile projects from the country’s top developers are under construction and currently generating interest from both local and foreign investors. Among those developments is the ‘Vertis North’ project in Quezon City, the capital’s largest city by land area.

Developed by Alveo Land, a unit of Ayala Land Inc, the twotower condominium project is scheduled to be turned over to buyers between 2019 and 2020, local news agency, Interaksyon. com reported. Last year, Alveo Land also launched a residential project in another OFW-favourite Laguna province, dubbed the ‘Lumira Nuvali’, its fourth landed

development in the burgeoning Nuvali township.

Another top developer, Megaworld Corporation, has become bullish on township developments. As of first quarter of 2015, Megaworld townships have an estimated 250,000 residents and around 150,000 office worker population, mostly in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which includes many former OFWs. Through the company’s real estate subsidiaries, namely Empire East Land Holdings Inc, Suntrust Properties Inc and Global Estate Resorts Inc, Megaworld has township developments in key areas in the Philippines, including Metro Manila, Laguna, Davao, Cebu, Iloilo and Batangas.

“By 2020, we expect to increase our total population by 150 percent in all of our urban townships, which will reach at least one million,” said Dr. Andrew L. Tan, founder and Chief Executive of the Megaworld Group, in a statement. Megaworld also revealed plans to strengthen its commercial and retail property portfolio in its township projects in order to attract more Filipino buyers who put a premium on leisure and shopping.

“Condominium residents, for example, need not go far to buy groceries and gifts, or even watch movies. BPO workers, on the other hand, need not take public transportation just to buy food or eat in restaurants. In our communities, everything is just within reach,” Tan reported commenting. The real estate giant has allotted PHP230 billion (USD5.11 billion) for its township developments until 2019.

House For Sale Comes With Free Wife In Indonesia

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n estate agent in Yogyakarta, Indonesia has come up with a brilliant selling tactic – by offering the hand of the house owner for marriage.

The internet advert for the single storey two bedroom property, reads that it comes with a “rare offer” – “when you buy the house you can ask the owner to marry you.”

The house owner, Wina Li, a 40-year-old widow and beauty salon owner is pictured posing in front of the house.

The house, which also boasts a spacious back garden and garage, is situated in Yogyakarta, in Java island, and is on the market for IDR999 million (RM279 720).

“Buy at the asking price and take the owner as your wife (terms and conditions apply)” runs the tagline.

The advert has gone viral on social media in Indonesia, with thousands sharing the advert.

The mother-of-two told AFP that the police had even inquired about the advert. “The police came to verify the news as they consider it as an improper advertisement. But I explained to them that it was not my idea,” she said.

She said she only originally intended the estate agent to tell friends that she was looking for a buyer, and also a husband, but didn’t expect him to advertise the fact.

“I told a friend of mine who also works as a property agent that if there is a buyer who is a single man or a widower who wants to buy a house, and at the same time look for a wife, he can let me know as I’m also a widow,” she said.

Meanwhile, estate agent Dian Purna Dirgantara told Time Magazine that if someone just wanted to buy the house, they were under no obligation to marry Wina.

Wina on the other hand has told local media that she was happy to go along with the offer as she was “looking for a husband anyway.”

The house owner, Wina Li

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93

INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY NEWS

St Regis Penthouse Sold At $15.8 Million Loss

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luxury apartment unit at St Regis Residences was sold at jaw dropping loss of $15.8 million, the biggest loss ever recorded yet on an apartment sale in Sinagpore.

The penthouse was previously purchased by a Japanese billionaire, Katsumi Tada, who shelled out a record-smashing $28 million, or $4,653 psf in 2007.

The two-storey located at Tanglin Road is said to have a swimming pool on the upper floor and view over Nassim Road greenery.

Tada’s generous offer back then awarded the lucky seller a profit of $12.77 million, but it has turned out to be a bad investment and underscores how fortunes have turned in the high-end property market, where more instances of loss-making transactions are surfacing.

The new owner is Andy Chua, who owns Yun Nam Hair Care.

He snapped up the 6,017 sq ft apartment at the 173-unit project in a cash transaction of $12.2 million, or $2,028 psf, according to records lodged with the Singapore Land Authority.

The sale was executed in Tokyo and took just two weeks to complete, instead of the usual eight to 12 weeks, possibly due to it being

Knight Frank Prime Global Rental Index At Five Year Low

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a cash sale or when either party was “in a haste to wrap it up”, said market watchers. Meanwhile, Tada is believed to have left the property vacant all this time.

Samuel Eyo, the Managing Director of Singapore Christie’s Homes, said Chua probably got a bargain as the price was low for luxury projects in the area, which sell for between $2,500 psf and $3,000 psf. What sealed the deal was probably because Chua paid in cash.

On the other hand, Tada is by no means the only high-end owner to want to cut his losses as luxury home values have dived 20 per cent from their peak in 2013. A 2,626 sq ft unit at luxury condo The Coast at Sentosa Cove went for just $1,190 psf in January, booking a loss of $1.215 million for its seller.

Tada, the 17th richest man in Japan with a fortune of US$1.7 billion (S$2.4 billion) according to Forbes, is the President of Daisho Group.

The firm acquired The Westin Singapore hotel from BlackRock for $468 million in December 2013, setting a record at $1.5 million per hotel room key.

Property Hunter - Sabah’s leading property magazine is packed with indepth property industry news, fresh perspectives, exclusive interviews, development progress, contribution from leaders of the industry, property launches, events and more from Sabah, Malaysia and around the region.

K

night Frank, the independent global property consultancy, has released its Prime Global Rental Index Q4 2014 which saw a notable slowdown this quarter.

On an annual basis, the index rose by just 0.6% in 2014 – its weakest rate of growth since 2009.

Results for Q4 2014 •

Chua made headlines last year when he paid US$2.2 million to score a private lunch with US investment guru Warren Buffett.

•

•

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Tokyo leads the rankings with luxury rents ending the year 11.1% higher. Japan emerged from recession at the end of 2014 and the economy is forecast to rise by 1.3% in 2015 and 2% in 2016. Central wards such as Chiyoda and Minato are seeing a rise in tenant demand due to strong population growth and expat demand.

In Hong Kong the potential interest rate rise in the US and the continuation of cooling measures meant more landlords chose to rent their property rather than sell in 2014, adding to rental supply and suppressing rental growth.

Singapore is the only key financial centre where luxury prices and luxury rents declined in 2014.

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Name

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Mailing Address

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Kate Everett-Allen, Partner at Knight Frank Residential Research, says,

_________________________________________________________________

“The weak index results underline the global economy’s fragility in 2014 but hides the fact that 12 of the 17 cities we cover saw luxury residential rents increase or remain static in 2014.

“Demand and activity in the prime residential rental market is strongly linked to business activity and employment levels.

Events in Europe will be critical to the overall index’s performance in 2015 with significant areas of concern still being addressed in the region’s economy. Although a ‘Grexit’ remains a possibility, business activity in the Eurozone is now close to a four-year high and deflationary pressures have eased partly due to higher wages suggesting a more positive outlook for 2015.”

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BANKING AND INVESTMENT NEWS

$₤ € BANKING & $ INVESTMENT

NEWS

The banking and investment industry has a crucial role to play when it comes to property. Read about the most recent news and trends in this trade

Bank Negara Keeps OPR At 3.25%, But The Original Forecast Was 4.5%

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ank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has maintained the overnight policy rate (OPR) at 3.25% after a twoday monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting, as predicted by most analysts.

The central bank pointed out that inflation had continued to stabilise as the effects of price adjustments for utilities and energy continued to diminish.

“Inflation is expected to remain relatively stable for the remainder of the year. Going into next year, inflation is projected to edge higher and is expected to be above its longterm average due to domestic cost factors.

“The absence of external price pressures

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and more moderate demand conditions are expected to mitigate the impact of these cost factors on the underlying inflation,” Bank Negara said in a statement yesterday.

“The current stance of monetary policy remains supportive of growth. Moving forward, the MPC will continue to monitor and assess the balance of risks surrounding the outlook for domestic growth and inflation. The MPC will also continue to assess risks of destabilising financial imbalances.

However, BNM said adjustment on the rate could be taken depending on how new information will affect the assessment on the balance of risks.

“This is to ensure the sustainability of growth prospects in the Malaysian economy,” BNM said.

In July, the central bank increased the OPR by 25bps, after maintaining it at 35bps for three years.

According to BNM, Malaysia’s economic activity has been supported by the continued growth in domestic demand and exports and going forward, domestic demand is expected to moderate but will remain the key driver of growth.

After the release of the second quarter 2014 real gross domestic product (GDP) data, some analysts said another OPR hike would be likely this month, with most pointing towards another 25bps hike.

While private investment activity is projected to remain robust, private consumption is expected to moderate.

“Exports will continue to benefit from the recovery in the advanced economies and from regional demand, although its growth will be slower, partly reflecting the base effect in the second half of 2013.

The prospects are for the Malaysian economy to remain on a steady growth path,” it said.

MIDF Research, in its report, said it believed that BNM can wait before another hike given that the economy is already responding to some of the macro and macro-prudential measures instituted since 2010.

“With data on exports and IPI showing a much weaker-thanexpected reading for July, the consensus now expects OPR to stay unchanged at least until before the next meeting scheduled to be in November. We expect OPR to remain unchanged until the end of

2014 before it will be hiked up again early next year to 3.5%,” it said.

Hong Leong Investment Bank (HLIB) Research had also expected BNM to maintain the OPR as downside risk to growth outpaces inflation concern.

“We see no hurry to raise the OPR back to 3.5% given a not-so-favourable macroeconomic outlook amid absence of demanddriven inflation,” it said in its research note.

HLIB Research maintained its 2014 full-year CPI growth forecast at 3.2%, taking into consideration the impact of the multi-tiered fuel subsidy mechanism that may be unveiled in Budget 2015 next month.

“We estimate that the impact of such a fuel subsidy mechanism is more or less equivalent to the impact of the previous fuel price hike in September 2013.”

AmResearch expects full-year inflation to register a growth of 2.9% this year, should prices remain benign in the fourth quarter but assuming the government raises petrol pump prices by 30 sen per litre in October, November or December, full-year inflation is likely to register 3.2%, 3.1% and 3% growth respectively.

However, it expects consumer prices to escalate next year, especially from April 2015 onwards when the goods and services tax (GST) takes effect.

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97

COFFEE TALK | Charles Tan

MORE Land Buying, Even During Current Slow Period?

Land Prices, New Projects And

DEBTS VS GDV

Happy ‘GST’ thinking if you still think GST is the main reason for buying or not buying.

R

eported in a local English daily. How much is a piece of land measuring around 144,000sf? It is said to be worth between RM360 million to RM400 million. Yes, this is ONLY the land price. Construction is a totally different thing altogether. Of course, this piece of land is very close to Petronas Twin Towers. This piece of land can thus only be acquired by developers with very deep pockets or KWAP (Retirement Fund Inc). The actual site is where Lai Meng School is situated in Jalan Ampang. Magna Prima, the land owner bought it for RM148.2 million in cash just 5 years ago or around RM1,350 per sf. If they are able to sell even at the lower end, their profit is tremendous. Of course, one additional clause for the land purchase then was that Magna Prima must rebuild a new Lai Meng School in Bukit Jalil.

If you think the land price is so high, well, the plan for Magna Prima previously was to build a 60-storey twin tower on the land with a combined Gross Development Value of RM1.8 billion. They have gotten approval for a plot ratio of 1 to 12 for that piece of land. It means the total development size can be 12 times the size of that piece of land. In the report, it was said that perhaps the project was way too big for Magna Prima. As at end 2014,

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Magna Prima has borrowings of over RM500 million and taking up this project is likely to be overly ambitious, unless a bigger partner comes along. Then again, joint ventures are never easy. Thus a more natural choice may be to sell for a big profit and use the proceeds for other investments.

This report in the online newspaper showed that taking up huge projects is not as easy as it seems and unforeseen circumstances would always force developers to rethink their strategy. This is the reason why when we look at the gearing ratio of many developers, even the big names, as soon as they venture out of Malaysia or undertake a huge local development, their gearing ratio shoots up. Debts have to start before profits would come. Add to this would be the current uncertain property market and negative sentiment as what could be seen in Facebook everyday; complaints, complaints and complaints. Oh yeah, interest in the Malaysian property by foreigners are definitely waning for now.

So, any developer trying to build ‘luxury’ must be very well connected or has a very comprehensive marketing plan. I would still look forward to the actual plan for this piece of expensive land. If there is news, will blog about it.

I

t’s always funny. Those who love to buy, loves to buy the most during slow or bad times. Those who are afraid to buy during great times tell you that they want to wait for bad time but during bad time, it is not likely that they can suddenly become courageous. Well, this is the world of property investment and it applies to stock market as well. Recent weeks have seen more action from foreign buyers but I have started to take profits for stocks I bought much earlier during worse times. I could not predict when the market would correct itself. If it does, well, great for me as I can then buy back.

If not, well, the profits would be enough for me to do a lot of other stuffs. Haha.

Land buying continues to be active even during current slow time. Greenland Holdings Group Ltd bought land in Plentong from Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (IWCB) with RM2.37 billion! Land size is 128 acres. if they are paying RM2.37 billion for just the land, I think the GDV would be at least a few times higher and this also means that the development would take many years to develop.

They are not stopping with this. A report has emerged that they may also be buying another piece of land in

Tanjung Langsat. For this piece of land, fortification of the land is needed for industrial purposes. It is reported that the company would like to diversify from just property development in Iskandar currently.

Another prominent developer, Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB) has won a tender to buy the land on which the German Embassy is situated on for RM259.15mil. The size is ONLY 1.8661 acres and it has buildings on it which means additional cost to demolish it. According to appraisal from CH Williams Talhar & Wong and Raine & Horne International Zaki & Partners, this price is 6% higher than the market value of the land.

“ The size is ONLY 1.8661 acres and it has buildings on it which means additional cost to demolish it “

Well, it is always more advantageous to buy during bad times.

Perhaps this is a good reason to buy because good deals would be hard to come by when the whole world wants the same piece of land.

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Using ‘Bad Debts’ To Buy ‘Good Debts’? “ Of course this is worse because he used ‘bad debt’ which is his credit card to buy ‘bad debts’ which are the electrical appliances.

Bad + Bad = Worse ”

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veryone tells us that we must always aim for good debts. Property mortgage is considered a good debt that everyone must have. This is very true.

However, if you have to borrow ‘new’ money instead of own savings in order to buy a property, how can this be a good debt?

You have no money but you wish to have money and thus you borrow money to buy a property so that you have more money in future? Pretty simple?

I read a news article saying that one young buyer borrowed money so that he can buy his RM720,000 condo. Huh? This is totally absurd and I have to say this. IF every young buyer is doing this so that they can buy a RM720,000 condo, we better all sell and hold cash. A crash is coming.

Secondly, are these young buyers really so precious that only a condo is good enough for them? Please stop saying that the prices of condos are up these days compared to yesterday or whatever. If you cannot afford, please do not buy and concentrate on things you can afford. I remember a scene from a Singaporean movie many years ago. One newly promoted manager wanted to show off his ‘wealth’, so he bought lots of new electrical goods. In fact he changed the whole house with new appliances and he asked for Easy Payment Scheme with his credit card. There’s little to guess what happened in the end. He was broke after a while. Of course this is worse because he used ‘bad debt’ which

is his credit card to buy ‘bad debts’ which are the electrical appliances. Bad + Bad = Worse.

Thirdly, it is really about time that newspapers or property gurus or anyone who speaks in public to remind everyone to spend based on what they can.

Stop inflating every number and said there are no more affordable homes. It’s just a matter of choice today. In some countries, there is not even any choice. Yes, we can also blame it on reasons such as too far, no public transport, whatever reasons which are beyond our control, really. There is however one which is within our control; it’s how we choose and what we buy. My first apartment was RM123,000, bought it together with my wife and I stayed there happily for 4 years with my brother and then my sister before I could afford a slightly bigger condo. Today, that same apartment is well within the affordable category. That was in Penang island when I was still a young guy.

Perhaps marketing is getting more SOPHISTICATED.

R

emember a few weeks ago during Chinese New Year, many developers were trying to outdo each other with their television advertisement?

Read here: Emerging Trend or Desperation? Actually, 2015 is the first time I see so many developers advertising at the same period. To understand if this an emerging trend, we have to look at 2016 Chinese New Year. Perhaps they may even advertise during other festive periods? Yesterday, someone told me of a developer who is launching their project and buyers may get to ride hot air balloons. While I have no details if a buyer must pay a deposit or not in order to get a hot air balloon ride but this is definitely a new thing in the market! Imagine visiting

a showhouse and you like the concept but need to think a bit and the sales person tells you that if you can decide now, you and family can have a hot air balloon ride?

Yes, I can see that smile on your face.

There are also more cases of developers offering free flights and accommodation if the buyer happens to be those wealthy and high potential buyers. This free flight is not confined to just within Malaysia. Many have informed me of groups of buyers from Japan or China flying to Malaysia to have a look at the show house as well as a vacation. Most of the time, if the buyer signs, the whole trip would be fully paid for. For the Japanese, a round of golf would be greatly appreciated.

When we look at these new ‘techniques’, if it is not due to the slowdown in the market, then perhaps property marketing in Malaysia has now reached a matured stage and every developer would now have to try something new in order to excite the buyers. Perhaps the next one would be a free cruise from a certain port to the port nearest to the property show house? Free food, entertainment and property talks by property gurus during the cruise so that by the time these potential buyers arrive at the destination port, they would already be ready to buy? Well, if they are not, they can always pay for their trip home, with the same cruise. Let’s wait for this one then.

Happy ‘enjoying’ before buying or perhaps ‘enjoy’ after buy.

In KL, the choices are even more. Read a little about how one Gen-Y changed his want into what he need and he is reaping his objective decision today. Of course, if the decision of these young people remain the same which is to borrow in order to buy, I wish ALL of US the best because this may be the reason why a bubble is building up.

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I Worry About

RETIREMENT Because‌.

H

ow many of us are worried about retirement? Many would be worried even if we have a good job paying a healthy salary today The reason is because by the time we retire, we would not have a full time job and thus our day to day expenses have to come from whatever we earn through what we have. For example, the interests from our fixed deposits or unit trusts etc. The luckier few would have rentals from properties but for majority, it is more likely a downgrade of lifestyle. In fact majority would have less than enough to live comfortably till the day we say byebye because we have never worried in advance.

In America, eighty-six (86) percent of all working-age American households agree that America faces a retirement crisis. This is according to a recent report by the National Institute of Retirement. They worry that they will fall short of the retirement savings goals that would allow them to maintain their same standard of living today versus when they retire. However, the percentage of people worried about their personal retirement outlook is down to 74 percent from 85 percent 2 years ago. Of course, the current economic growth does help in making them more confident as well. Over half said they will continue to work even after they retire! 40 percent meanwhile said they would have to sell their home for financial security reasons.

would be, WHY would people feel less confident? I think most of the time, it is because they have done nothing to fortify what they have before they retire. Second question is WHEN because in actual fact, if our investment had started earlier, we need to take less risks and still be able to achieve what we set out to have. Imagine if we started when we are much older? We may need to be much more aggressive and this is when luck must be on our side. Third question of WHAT to invest in can easily be found if we were to attend some talks by property gurus, or stock analysts or even your personal friend who is a unit trust agent.

If we have determined that property is one of such goal, then the question of WHERE would crop up. Where should we buy? Well, it is pretty safe to say that as long as you are not buying in the middle of a forest, any place is quite safe. Property prices tend to follow inflation rate and by the time we need to retire, we have a property that we can sell off. Do note that a RM350,000 home that we purchase today would have easily doubled during our working life. The most important thing we must know however is that retirement planning is something many worry but few do anything about. Are we the majority who does virtually nothing or the minority who think retirement planning has better start today? Happy thinking, planning and investing.

LI STING

Do we see a similarity with the situation in Malaysia?

Actually, this situation is repeated in many countries and not limited to just Malaysia or America. The first question

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APARTMENT FOR SALE

104

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Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

*Listing are accurate at the time of print. Kindly contact the respective agents for updates.

For more real estate listings, please visit www.propertyhunter.com.my www.PropertyHunter.com.my

105

PROPERTY LISTING |SABAH

106

*Listing are accurate at the time of print. Kindly contact the respective agents for updates.

For more real estate listings, please visit www.propertyhunter.com.my www.PropertyHunter.com.my

www.PropertyHunter.com.my

107

PROPERTY LISTING |SABAH

COMMERCIAL FOR SALE

BUNGALOW / VILLA FOR SALE

108

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

*Listing are accurate at the time of print. Kindly contact the respective agents for updates.

For more real estate listings, please visit www.propertyhunter.com.my www.PropertyHunter.com.my

*Listing are accurate at the time of print. Kindly contact the respective agents for updates.

For more real estate listings, please visit www.propertyhunter.com.my www.PropertyHunter.com.my

109

PROPERTY LISTING |SABAH

SEMI-DETACHED HOUSE FOR SALE

110

*Listing are accurate at the time of print. Kindly contact the respective agents for updates.

For more real estate listings, please visit www.propertyhunter.com.my www.PropertyHunter.com.my

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

*Listing are accurate at the time of print. Kindly contact the respective agents for updates.

For more real estate listings, please visit www.propertyhunter.com.my www.PropertyHunter.com.my

111

PROPERTY LISTING |SABAH

TERRACE / LINK HOUSE FOR SALE

112

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

*Listing are accurate at the time of print. Kindly contact the respective agents for updates.

For more real estate listings, please visit www.propertyhunter.com.my www.PropertyHunter.com.my

www.PropertyHunter.com.my

113

PROPERTY LISTING |SABAH

APARTMENT FOR RENT

114

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

*Listing are accurate at the time of print. Kindly contact the respective agents for updates.

For more real estate listings, please visit www.propertyhunter.com.my www.PropertyHunter.com.my

*Listing are accurate at the time of print. Kindly contact the respective agents for updates.

For more real estate listings, please visit www.propertyhunter.com.my www.PropertyHunter.com.my

115

PROPERTY LISTING |SABAH

COMMERCIAL FOR RENT

116

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

*Listing are accurate at the time of print. Kindly contact the respective agents for updates.

For more real estate listings, please visit www.propertyhunter.com.my www.PropertyHunter.com.my

www.PropertyHunter.com.my

117

PROPERTY LISTING |SABAH

TERRACE / LINK HOUSE FOR SALE

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

CONDOMINIUM FOR SALE

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

SEMI - DETACHED HOUSE FOR SALE

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

EAST MALAYSIA’S LEADING PROPERTY PORTAL, MAGAZINE & EXPO

118

*Listing are accurate at the time of print. Kindly contact the respective agents for updates.

For more real estate listings, please visit www.propertyhunter.com.my www.PropertyHunter.com.my

*Listing are accurate at the time of print. Kindly contact the respective agents for updates.

For more real estate listings, please visit www.propertyhunter.com.my www.PropertyHunter.com.my

119

PROPERTY LISTING |SARAWAK

AGRICULTURAL LAND FOR SALE

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

APARTMENT FOR SALE

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

BUNGALOW / VILLA FOR SALE

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

APARTMENT FOR RENT

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

COMMERCIAL FOR RENT

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT

Extracted from PropertyHunter.com.my

120

*Listing are accurate at the time of print. Kindly contact the respective agents for updates.

For more real estate listings, please visit www.propertyhunter.com.my www.PropertyHunter.com.my

www.PropertyHunter.com.my

121

122

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www.PropertyHunter.com.my

123

124

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