EXHIBITORS at the Star Property Fair 2011 in Penang enjoyed good response to their projects over the four-day event held at Level 2 of G Hotel and the ground floor of Gurney Plaza.

Ivory Properties Group Bhd assistant manager (corporate property) Michael Wong said they had a lot of enquiries over the first two days and began closing sales on the third day.

At press time yesterday, he said the company recorded about RM7.2mil in sales of its Moonlight Bay, The Peak Residences and Island Resort, and received enquiries and registration for The Latitude.

IJM Land Bhd senior sales and marketing manager Patsy Lee said the crowd was good and the company enjoyed good response at its booth over the four days.

“We have sold RM17mil of our Pearl Regency project and are also collecting registration for our other projects such as The Address and Permatang Sanctuary,” she said.

Belleview Group senior manager (sales administration) Anne Lee said the response was very encouraging and they received hundreds of enquiries, especially for their Winter Tower at All Seasons Park and three-storey terrace houses at Bukit Dumbar Residences.

“Many also went to check out our sales gallery after making enquiries at our booth,” she said, adding that they closed sales on the spot for the two projects by receiving booking fees.

The ninth Star Property Fair 2011, which ended yesterday, was touted as Penang’s premier property expo.

Organised by The Star in collaboration with Henry Butcher Malaysia (Penang) Sdn Bhd, the fair, in its ninth edition, featured 36 exhibitors.

Among them were DNP Land Sdn Bhd, Nusmetro Venture (Pg) Sdn Bhd, Sunway Grand Sdn Bhd, Mah Sing Group Bhd, MTT Properties and Development Sdn Bhd, Reka Indah Development (Pg) Sdn Bhd, Ideal Property Sdn Bhd, SP Setia and Boon Siew Group (BSG Property).

There were also Plenitude Heights Sdn Bhd, Triental Land Sdn Bhd, GD Development Sdn Bhd, Lone Pine Group of Companies, ResCom Asia Sdn Bhd, Capitawealth International Sdn Bhd, KPWG International Sdn Bhd, Tambun Indah Development Sdn Bhd, Bukit Kiara Properties Sdn Bhd, E&O Bhd and Jalin Realty.

Henry Butcher also featured projects by Magna Putih Sdn Bhd and several property in Australia and England by various developers.

While most people would love to have their own landed property, there are many others who opt for apartments. Among them was university lecturer Rosli Saad, 51, who was visiting the fair for the first time with his daughter Athirah, 12.

“We’re looking for an apartment on Penang island. I don’t like landed property. The main reason I prefer apartments is because there is better security, with only one entrance to the whole place. And it’s easier to maintain an apartment unit without having to worry about the compound and all that,” said Rosli.

Dr R. Sentil and Dr S. Karthik, both 27, were seen checking out the Meridien Residence project in Sungai Ara by Reka Indah Development (Pg) Sdn Bhd.

We read about the fair and wanted to check it out. The property market in Penang is good and we are looking for either a place to stay or to invest in.

“Looking around, we find that some of the property have sold out,” said Dr Sentil.

Dr Karthik said he preferred to live further from town, “away from the hustle and bustle”, although he would probably have to brave the traffic jam to go home.

Many visitors also attended the various talks held over the duration of the fair. The talks were, among others, related to property, investment, financing, law, heritage and feng shui. There was also an exhibition of restored heritage buildings carried out by George Town World Heritage Inc.

A popular feature of the fair was the “Surf, Click & Win” contest sponsored by IJM Land where visitors stood a chance to win prizes totalling RM30,000, including a 32′ Samsung LCD television, Acer Iconia Tabs, Samsung Galaxy Tabs and Parkson vouchers daily.

Visitors also got to redeem mystery gifts, on a first-come-first-served basis, with cut-out coupons printed in The Star over the four days. Hong Leong Bank Bhd sponsored RM5,000 worth of mystery gifts.

SOURCE: The Star

MANY potential house buyers like the venue where the Star Property Fair 2011 was held as they could shop at Gurney Plaza while visiting the fair which was held at the shopping mall and G Hotel next door.

Engineer Jason Lum, 32, and his wife Tham Siew Leng, 32, said they were happy to shop at the mall and check out the latest property at the same time.

He said they could also bring their two children – Tiffany, five, and Daniel, two, – elsewhere in the mall if the kids started to get bored touring property booths.

“It is also easier to source for food here. Restaurants and fast food outlets are aplenty,” he said when met at the Belleview Group booth at Gurney Plaza yesterday.

Lum said he was looking for pro-perty for investment after buying a landed property in Sungai Ara in May.

“I want to know what is the latest on offer. The fair is good as almost all the major industry players are here to showcase their projects,” he said.

Another visitor, V.S. Hew, 40, said both Gurney Plaza and G Hotel provided an entertaining and shopping environment for visitors to the fair.

We love the fair here. The environment is perfect for us to source for property.

“We are looking for an ideal place for investment purposes. We will go for any property, be it high-rise or landed, as long as it suits us and the location is strategic,” said the factory manager.

Hew was making enquiries about the Oasis Condominiums at the Nusmetro Venture (P) Sdn Bhd booth with his wife, Crystal Ong, 38.

Businesswoman Jennifer Teh and her husband, B.C. Lau, in their 50s and 60s respectively, said they were glad the property fair was held at Gurney Plaza.

We always have a great time here. Last year, we also bought a property during the Star Property Fair.

“In fact, Penang is a good place for investment. Most of the places are ideal locations for retirement and holiday,” she said.

B.C. Lok, 40, said he was looking for a bigger home, preferably a condominium or a landed property with a built-area of at least 1,500sq ft and 3,000sq ft respectively.

“I have seen something I like here. It is a condominium costing almost RM800,000 in Sungai Ara,” he said.

K.C. Teoh, 45, said he was looking to buy landed and overseas property for investment but lamented that prices had gone up by 40% compared to last year.

SOURCE: The Star

LANDED homes in Penang are still in great demand despite their high prices.

SP Setia Bhd’s sales and marketing executive Eunice Lee said many people were eyeing landed property due to expected limited and costlier supply in future.

“We have sales every day for our Setia Greens and Setia Pearl Island projects comprising terrace and semi-detached and villa units,” she said.

She said the number of visitors to the fair had been “fantastic”, especially during the weekend.

BSG Property’s sales and marketing executive Chong Hock Aun said the company was getting more enquiries on the landed segment as visitors felt that such pro- perty were likely to be more expensive if they did not buy them now.

Chong said there seemed to be more young couples who visited the fair during the weekend while older folk were the bigger crowd on the first two days.

Ideal Homes Properties Sdn Bhd sales and marketing manager Teh Yeow Jin said many visitors preferred landed property but their prices were generally out of reach.

“Take for example a landed property in Batu Maung. It could easily cost between RM700,000 and RM800,000,” he said.

The fair was an eye-opening experience for the director of Australian real estate agent Uniq Property, a first-time exhibitor at the event.

“We received enquiries from some 200 qualified buyers throughout the event for all four apartment projects in Melbourne showcased by us. Many of them had children studying in Australia or holders of permanent residence status there,” said Veki Brdjanin, adding that they sold two units of apartments.

SOURCE: The Star

Pearl Regency, A sophisticated, stylistic metro-island address comprising a vibrant residential and commercial hub created for a cosmopolitan community.

Perfect as a home, perfect as an investment, the strategic space planning of Pearl Regency perfectly fits its strategic location in coastal MetroEast Penang.

Lifestyle amenities cater to the needs and wants of an international community – shopping mall, services, ample parking, security features, recreational facilities and lifestyle programs.

This project was launched 2009 in Korea and opened for local market last year (2010).

Property Project : Pearl Regency
Location : Gelugor, Penang
Property Type : Luxury Condominium
Land Tenure : Freehold
No. of Blocks : 1
No. of Storey : 35
Units per Floor : 7
Built-up Area : 1,313 sq.ft. onward
Total Units : 187
Indicative Price: RM723,000 onward
Developer : IJM Land

Location Map:

[streetview width=”100%” height=”250px” lat=”5.37803″ lng=”100.31384600000001″ heading=”81.00388564653593″ pitch=”15.384497828728287″ zoom=”0″][/streetview]

There are a number of measures that can be put in place to ensure the local property market continues to be healthy, sustainable and does not succumb easily to any adversities.

It was just barely three years ago that we witnessed the widespread contagion effect of the collapse of Lehman Brothers on the world economy.

The external front is still shaky and there is a strong likelihood that a second and more severe financial crisis, or “double dip” may happen.

With a growing number of European countries going into debt crisis, the next big trigger may come in the form of a debt default by the US following its ballooning deficit.

To avert a potential meltdown from the frail external economic conditions, it is important to build a strong foundation for the local market.

There are potential hazards lurking that may cause the market to lose substantial value if we are not careful.

Among the potential hazards include over-speculation and over-commitment to household loans that may lead to disability to service the loan, and result in higher incidence of non-performing loans.

Bank Negara is closely monitoring the market for signs of overheating and a potential policy tightening may be in the offing.

The central bank is reportedly looking at modifying the mode of calculation for household loan (that covers mortgage and hire purchase) from gross pay to net pay.

If the measure is implemented, it will mean that borrowers will only be eligible for a lower loan amount based on a percentage (usually up to a third for housing loan repayment) of their take-home pay after deducting payment of income tax, and contribution to the Employees Provident Fund and Socso.

The measure should be welcome as it will curb over-commitment in household loan and ensure there is enough left for other household expenses.

Over the past two years or so, many Malaysians have joined in the rush to buy property as the market has been overflowing with cash, and property is the biggest beneficiary of this high liquidity in the system.

I believe one of the main reasons for the sharp and rapid appreciation in property prices can be attributed to the fact that there are very few alternative investment options around for investors.

To “dilute” the high appetite for property, it is necessary to open up other viable investment options so that those with surplus cash can have other alternatives to turn to. In fact investment in unit trust has become quite popular as it actually fit the needs of those with lower risk appetite and do not like the volatility of the stock market.

Raising savings interest rates will also be a good measure as it will attract more people to park their money in the banks again.

With more people saving with the banks, financial institutions will have more funds to lend to corporate borrowers who need funding to expand their businesses.

New start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are among the critical groups which need a helping hand from the banks to provide loans for working capital and expansion plans.

There have been feedback from some smaller enterprises of the increasing difficulty in seeking loans from banks. Instead of just lending to mega corporations, banks should also pay attention to the smaller outfits as most of the big and successful firms today started out small once.

Of course the normal due diligence and screening of the borrowers to access their credit worthiness has to be undertaken to avoid unnecessary problems later.

These enterprises should not be underestimated as they will be able to act as a “cushion” should there be another economic or financial crunch.

From the previous meltdown, we have witnessed how fragile the financial and investment markets can be.

Although the property market is generally quite benign and not as volatile as the financial markets, the sharp hike in prices over the past two years have started to cause alarm in some quarters that the market is overheating.

Although the sharp rise in prices is evident in certain places, notably the Klang Valley, Penang island and some parts of Johor, even some quiet markets like Ipoh and mainland Penang have also charted unusual price gains.

It’s true that many savvy investors have benefited from the sharp price appreciation of the past two years, but there are more people who have been affected by it.

They are caught in a rather difficult situation of having to fork out at least a 20% to 30% increase in property price and higher downpayment for their purchases.

Whether one is a potential buyer or seller, tenant, land owner, developer, or from the governing authorities, we are all stakeholders in the market, and should lend our support to ensure it remains stable and sustainable.

SOURCE: The Star