A recently proposed commercial development in George Town by Jiran Bina Sdn. Bhd. Situated along Jalan Clove Hall, this location finds itself in close proximity to Skymind Tower and diagonally faces Boustead Tower. Additionally, it boasts a convenient location just a short distance from the renowned Gurney Drive and is less than 3 kilometers away from Komtar.

This forthcoming project is set to bring to life a 23-story office tower, accompanied by a five-level car parking podium.

At present, the project remains in the planning stage, and it remains uncertain whether it will be made available for sale in the future.

Project Name: (to be confirmed)
Location: George Town
Property Type: Office tower
Built-up Size: (to be confirmed)
Total Unit: (to be confirmed)
Indicative Price: (to be confirmed)
Developer: Jiran Bina Sdn. Bhd.

DISCLAIMER: This article is solely based on research done using publicly available data. This is not an advertisement. Any claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a project or service should be verified with the developer, provider or party in question.

Penang has unveiled a new committee, called HOPE (Housing Outcome Performance Committee) under the state Housing Board, to streamline the process of offering affordable housing units.

Datuk Seri Sundarajoo Somu, the state executive councillor in charge of Housing and Environment, announced that HOPE was established to ensure the execution of housing policies at the State level are aligned with the Madani initiatives, the Penang2030 vision and the Penang unity government manifesto.

He also revealed that the state has so far recorded over 40,000 applications on the waiting list since 2008.

The same platform also approved 915 names for affordable housing which was done online from the Housing Information System (Sistem Maklumat Perumahan).

“Following a HOPE meeting held on September 14th, the selection and offering process for affordable houses (Rumah Mampu Milik – RMM) will now be conducted online,” Sundarajoo said.

“As of August 31st this year, the housing information system has received 43,260 applications. However, only 7,686 of these applications have been updated,” Sundarjoo told a press conference in Komtar today.

Affordable housing is categorised into three groups, both on the Island and mainland, as follows:

• RMM A – 650sqft priced at RM42,000, eligible for monthly income earners of RM2,500 and below.
• RMM B – 700/750sq ft priced at RM72,500/100,000 respectively, eligible for monthly income earners not exceeding RM3,500/5,000 respectively.
• RMM C – 750/800/850sq ft priced at RM150,000/200,000/300,000 respectively, eligible for monthly income earners not exceeding RM8,000/10,000/12,000 respectively.

Out of the 915 offer letters issued, 404 were designated for RMM A, 81 for RMM B, and 430 for RMM C. The selection process involved applicants from all five districts in Penang.

The Penang Housing Board plans to launch a campaign encouraging applicants to update their data online in the system, particularly their marital status and monthly income every three years. This will help the government remove individuals who are no longer eligible for affordable homes.

Sundarajoo also announced the introduction of a new rent-to-own scheme for singles and young families at the upcoming People’s Housing Project (PPR) at Kota Giam in Jelutong.

To meet the current demand, the state government has proposed the construction of a 45-storey apartment with a 500sq ft studio units and a 44-storey apartment with 700sq ft units for young married couples.

The project, which will take place at the two-acre site in Jelutong, has been allocated RM100 million by the Development and Local Government Ministry.

Sundarajoo said Penang would also introduce a new affordable housing category for the B40s or those earning no less than RM3,500 but not exceeding RM5,000 per month.

Under the scheme known as RMM B2, they will be eligible to apply for a 750sq ft unit priced at between RM100,000 and RM150,000.

Under the former exco for housing Jagdeep Singh Deo, Penang has set a target of achieving 220,000 affordable homes by 2030.

To date, there are 152,263 affordable housing units that have either been built, are under construction or are planned for the future.

Also present at the press conference were Penang Housing Board general manager ’Ainul Fadhilah Samsudi, chief business officer Fakhrurrazi Ibnu Omar, chief operation officer Mohd Fauzy Mohd Yusoff and chief legal and enforcement officer Nadzifah Abd Rahim.

Source: Buletin Mutiara

Ewein Bhd is buying a 3.93-hectare vacant piece of freehold land in Seberang Perai Tengah, Penang for RM39.77 million.

The property developer is buying the land through its indirect wholly-owned subsidiary SkyDorm Sdn Bhd, which is principally involved in construction and letting of industrial properties. The vendors are Tan Hang Soon and Tan Kean Hock.

Ewein said the acquisition is in line with the group’s strategy of acquiring land banks with good development potential for its property development and property management segments.

“The board is optimistic that the demand for industrial properties is bright and will be contributing towards the profitability of Ewein,” the group added in a bourse filing on Monday.

Ewein said the purchase consideration was agreed on a willing-buyer willing-seller basis and is to be funded via a combination of internal funds as well as bank borrowings.

Source: TheEdgeMalaysia.com

A 164ha hill valley land near Paya Terubong here will be developed for an agro-tourism project over the next five years.

The project, overlooking the Bukit Kukus Bypass bridge, will combine the features of a nature resort with flying fox lines.

It will also improve food security by encouraging vegetable and fruit farming.

The state-owned land under the Penang Development Corporation (PDC) was leased for 40 years to Kat Resources Sdn Bhd (KRSB), which will develop it at a cost of about RM40 million over three phases.

Chief minister Chow Kon Yeow, who is also PDC chairman, said a quarter of the site had been illegally cleared for vegetable farming.

He said this new project would integrate existing farmers into a systematic and planned development under the watchful eyes of the state agricultural department.

“The land is great for farming and yet, the views from these hills are stunning,” he said at a press conference here.

PDC CEO Aziz Bakar said the hill site is now home to some 150-odd vegetable farmers who plant a variety of produce from spinach to potatoes.

He said the existing farmers will be “blended” into the project, with plots of land given to them to carry out farming through a land lease.

Aziz said PDC stands to make RM24 million through a 40-year land lease it signed with KRSB.

KRSB CEO Teoh Kok Aun said his company had set aside RM20 million for early infrastructure works, which will take five years.

Another RM20 million will be needed for tourism products. Teoh also expects 400 jobs to be created.

He said large orchards with musang king, black thorn and cempedak king variety durians would be planted there, with an estimated revenue of RM3 million yearly. Tourism products will bring another RM5 million annually.

A flying fox line spanning the valley of the two hills, hiking trails, glamping and other outdoor activities have also been proposed, Teoh said.

He expects to wait a year before beginning the project as it has yet to get necessary approvals from the Penang Island City Council and other relevant agencies.

Source: FMT Online

Residential property launches in the first half of 2023 plunged 50.2% to just over 16,000 units from 33,205 units in H1 2022, said the National Property Information Centre (Napic).

Compared to the second half of 2022, residential launches in the first half of 2023 were down by 20.9%.

These statistics paint a rather bleak picture for the property market, especially the residential property segment, Napic’s H1 2023 property market report said.

However, sales performance for new launches recorded an increase of 32.2% compared to H1 2022 of 14.6% although it was lower compared to H2 2022’s 36.8%.

In the first half of 2023, 20.7% of new residential units were priced below RM300,000, 37.3% between RM300,001 and RM500,000, 34.3% between RM500,001 and RM1 million, and 7.7% above RM1 million.

Johor had the most residential launches (25.9% of the national total), with a sales performance of 34.5%. Selangor came next (18% share) with a sales performance of 38.6%, followed by Penang (9.9% share) with a sales performance of 64%.

With terrace homes dominating new launches, Napic said single-storey (3,489 units) and 2-3 storey homes (4,795 units) contributed 50.1% of the total units with a sales performance of 49.1%. This was followed by condominium/apartment units at 31% share (5,126 units) with a sales performance of 27.8%.

Napic, which sits under the valuation and property services department, said property market activity in the first half recorded more than 184,000 transactions worth RM85.37 billion. This is a 2.1% decrease in volume and 1.1% rise in value compared to the same period last year.

Overhang units decreases

On the overhang situation, Napic said a total of 26,286 overhang units worth RM18.30 billion was recorded in H1 2023, down by 5.3% and 0.6% in volume and value respectively against H2 2022.

“Most of the overhang is in Johor with 4,717 units worth RM4 billion. Likewise, the unsold under construction residential units saw a decrease of 4.9% to 54,844 units compared to H2 2022 (57,649 units),” it said.

On the same note, the serviced apartment sub-sector recorded 22,497 overhang units with a value of RM19.13 billion, a decrease of 6.2% and 5.2% in volume and value respectively against H2 2022.

“Johor recorded the highest overhang in the country with 59.4% (13,366 units), followed by Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, with 24.2% (5,450 units) and 12% (2,689 units) respectively,” it added.

Moving forward, Napic said the property market performance was “moderate” for H1 2023, despite a number of headwinds which has limited the sector’s growth potential.

“With the positive economic growth projection by Bank Negara Malaysia, expected between 4% to 5% in 2023, supported by various government initiatives and assistance, the property market performance is expected to remain cautiously optimistic,” it concluded.

Source: FMT Online