Malaysia - Housing

[winston]

Property sector under continued pressure

BY AFIQ ISA

RHB Research revised its rating on IOI Properties Group Bhd (IOI Prop) to “neutral” from a “trading buy” previously. Similarly, UOA Development Bhd’s stock rating was revised downwards to “neutral” from a “buy”, while UEM Sunrise Group Bhd now carries a “sell” rating from “neutral” previously.

A major concern was the escalating oversupply situation in both the residential and commercial space, while at the same time, sellers were struggling to secure sales due to the prevailing weak economic environment, it said.

Source: The Star

http://www.thestar.com.my/business/busi ... -pressure/

[winston]

More uncertainties expected in Malaysia's property market

BY EUGENE MAHALINGAM

PUTRAJAYA: The residential property sub-sector is expected to experience further softening in 2016 in view of the various internal and external uncertainties, while issues on affordable housing and affordability of home purchasers will continue to top the national agenda this year, according to Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Chua Tee Yong.

In conjunction with the launch of 2015 Property Market Report by the National Property Information Centre (NAPIC) on Tuesday, he said the commercial sub-sector is anticipated to moderate, while the office market is expected to plateau in 2016.

"New launches are expected to slow down and issues of housing affordability will continue to top the national agenda," said Chua in his speech.

In a statement, the Valuation & Property Services Department said the retail sub-sector is likely to moderate as cautious sentiment on consumers' spending lingers at the onset of increasing costs of living.

"The performance of hypermarkets looks more positive due to the nature of goods sold in these premises, namely necessity goods."

Meanwhile, according to NAPIC, market volume recorded 362,105 transactions worth RM149.9bil in 2015, down 5.7% in volume and 8% in value against 2014.

The sub-sector recorded a slight downturn by 4.6% in volume and correspondingly down in value by 10.5%.

The commercial, industrial, agriculture and development land sub-sectors were all down 10.6%, 13%, 7.5% and 2.4% respectively.

Source: The Star

[winston]

Landed properties much sought after despite property glut

BY EUGENE MAHALINGAM

Some developers are still registering good sales for landed and affordable homes.

High rise developers meanwhile, are having to offer a lot more freebies, with some even offering their own financing

Source: The Star

http://www.thestar.com.my/business/busi ... nt-demand/

[winston]

CIMB Research sees recovery in property stocks in H2 of 2016

“For investors who are concerned about falling into a value trap but want exposure in property, we recommend stocks with decent dividend yields and strong management as they offer stable returns as well as share price upside when the recovery in demand for physical properties gains strength. These stocks include LBS Bina, Mah Sing, and UOA Dev.

“Although Eco World’s prospective dividend yield is less than 1%, it remains our top sector’s pick. We believe Eco World offers the highest share price upside as it is the most leveraged, financially and operationally, among the developers that we cover.

“A recovery in property sales in 2H16, driven by improving homebuyer confidence and more launches of mass market properties, could trigger a re-rating in property stocks’ prices. A sudden economic shock is the key downside risk to our sector call,” CIMB Research said.

Source: The Star

http://www.thestar.com.my/business/busi ... 2-of-2016/

[winston]

KL high end condominium market lacklustre: Report

“In the primary market, selling prices of high end condominiums / serviced apartments in KL City range from RM1,300 to RM1,900 per sq ft while branded residences are generally priced from RM2,000 per sq ft onwards.

In KL Fringe such as Mont’ Kiara, new launches of condominiums/serviced apartments are priced from about RM800 to RM1,200 per sq ft.

“Prices in the secondary market continued to remain resilient. During the second half of 2015, small to mid-sized units (about 600 sq ft to 1,300 sq ft) in selected schemes such as ViPod Residences, The Horizon and The Troika were transacted at circa RM1,300 to RM1,800 per sq ft.

“Meanwhile, larger units (1,600 sq ft to 2,600 sq ft) in selected projects such as The Troika, Pavilion Residences and Quadro Residences, command prices from RM1,100 to RM1,600 per sq ft,” said Knight Frank Malaysia.

Knight Frank Malaysia said the completion of 1,033 units of high-end condominiums / residences from three projects during 1H 2016, brought the cumulative supply in Kuala Lumpur to 43,782 units.

Source: The Star

http://www.thestar.com.my/business/busi ... re-report/

[winston]

Avoid Malaysian property, especially Iskandar

BY KU SWEE YONG

Against an uncertain political climate and economic outlook in the country, which could depress real estate valuations or further weaken the ringgit versus the Singapore dollar, my call on Malaysian real estate is an “Avoid” for now.

Source: Today

http://www.todayonline.com/business/avo ... y-iskandar

[winston]

Developers up the tempo

BY EUGENE MAHALINGAM

IJM unveiled an insurance scheme to mitigate unemployment fears for prospective house buyers.

This is the first time in Malaysia that unemployment insurance is being introduced.

Other developers are also providing various schemes.

For instance, some offer the 10/90 scheme where buyers pay only 10% of the price and the balance 90% on vacant possession. This would mean that the buyers have at least two to three years to beef up their financials in order to secure the loan for the property.

Others provide a financial safety net to buyers for a short term in case they are not able to secure a loan. The Sunway Group is one that offers such facilities.

Most of the developers are keeping their promotion until end of the year to help buyers.

Source: The Star

http://www.thestar.com.my/business/busi ... the-tempo/

[winston]

Unsold units continue to dampen property market in Malaysia

BY A. RUBAN, OPALYN MOK AND JULIA CHAN

According to the National Property Information Centre (Napic), 18,908 of the 81,894 units of residential and commercial properties launched in the first quarter of 2016 have yet to be sold.

Source: Malay Mail

http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malay ... EFDHO.dpuf

[winston]

As property market dives, real estate agents struggle to stay afloat

BY A. RUBAN, OPALYN MOK and JULIA CHAN

The property market has been experiencing a slowdown in the past two years and according to data from the National Property Information Centre, there were a total of 18,908 unsold units in the first quarter of 2016.

These unsold residential and commercial properties translate to RM9.4 billion in value; an increase of 16 per cent in units and 15.8 per cent in value from the fourth quarter of 2015.

Source: Malay Mail

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/property-mark ... 00856.html

[winston]

Noh Omar: Developers can now offer home loans

BY SIRA HABIBU

KUALA LUMPUR: Eligible developers can now apply for moneylenders licences to provide loan facilities of up to 100% to property buyers.

The licence would be issued by the Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Ministry under the Moneylenders Act 1951 (Amendment) 2011.

Interest rate for loan taken under the scheme varies from maximum 12% with collateral and up to 18% without collateral.

Source: The Star

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2 ... -noh-omar/