I&T Penang Properties Blogs

1. More new property launches - More housing projects are being slated for launching in the second half of this year by established developers in Penang as there is growing optimism amongst housing developers and market players on the recovery of domestic economic and improving market outlook on the property sector. Read more at Penang gears up for more property launches.

2. Property transactions on the rise -According to NAPIC’s press release, there is an increase of 16% in terms of number of property transaction in 1^st Quarter 2010 compared to the corresponding quarter in year 2009 whilst the total transaction values surged significantly, almost 49% from RM16.92bil to RM25.5bil. It is projected that the rise on the property transactions and total values are likely to continue for the forthcoming quarters. The overall property market performance this year is expected to be much better than year 2009 which have been marred by the world financial crisis.

3. Rebound in market demand -The rebound in market demand experienced by the Penang Property sector in the first half of this year is mainly attributable to the pent-up demand after a period of subdue market activities brought about by the impact of the world financial crisis.

Recent reports of higher take up and improving sales performances experienced by Penang’s established housing developers indicates that the market demand has indeed picked up and the demand trend is likely to remain firm in the short term as property investors are flocking back into the property market in anticipation of buoyant economic outlook as well as further price increase following the recent government’s move to implement gradual removal of subsidy on energy and raw materials.

Another factor that could fuel the buoyancy of the property market is the recent strong performance of the Bursa Malaysia KL Composite Index which have recovered over 1,400 points. The stock market has made substantial gains this year and this could boost the property sector.

A local research fund house predicted that Malaysia’s property sector is set to see its biggest residential boom in a decade. The property sector was already entering the early stage of a property “super cycle”. More at OSK bets on Malaysian Property boom.

The Economic Clock - Malaysia’s property sector is currently at the stage of 9 - 12

4. Rising home prices - There is a growing concern that home prices are getting costlier due to the cost push factor as most of the newly launched projects appeared to be in the category of upmarket segment offering luxury housing units.

Penang Island is facing very limited land bank for housing development particularly medium cost housing units and landed homes. With limited supply in land bank, land costs on the Penang Island keep rising and inevitably push up home prices to unprecedented range that go beyond the affordable levels of the majority of the island’s population. A Penang politician MP has recently voiced his concern on rising home prices and has urged the housing ministry to relook into the present housing policy. In the meantime, more parties are urging the state government to review and address the housing issues in Penang which may have an impact on brain drain of Penang employment. The rising prices of homes, if left unchecked, may result in gentrification. Urban gentrification is a phenomenon on socio-cultural changes in an area resulting from wealthier people buying up the housing units in a less prosperous community area.

Many consider property, be it a landed home or stratified condominium unit, is a big ticket item which involves high capital and long term commitment, so the question of whether is it better to buy or rent is very much depends on one’s financial affordability and needs. www.intproperties.com looks into the advantages of owning a home versus renting.

Advantages of home ownership

i) Provide stability and certainty of stay for your family;
ii) Benefit of security and pride of home ownership;
iii) Freedom on choices of usage ie. for self-occupation or weekend second home or rent out;
iv) Built equity of your own home. Instead of paying rental monthly, you make repayments to the banks and gradually building up your home equity and ultimately owning the property after you redeem the property.
v) Hedge against inflation. Owing to the scarcity of landbank earmarked for new developments and growing population, demand for quality and affordable housing in established areas in Penang remains high which leads to higher home prices. In addition, the cost to build new housing stock continues to rise due to inflationary factor.
vi) Tax relief. Malaysians are eligible for tax relief of up to RM10,000.00 a year on loan interest payment to finance the purchase of property for three consecutive years subject to conditions that it is limited to one residential home for own occupation( not for rental) and the sale and purchase agreement is signed between March 10 2009 and December 31 2010. Besides, the government has further relaxed the EPF housing withdrawal guidelines beginning of January this year to encourage more Malaysians home seekers to own houses.

Advantages of renting

i)a cheaper and affordable way (less upfront costs) as you only need to come out with deposit payments equivalent to 3 months rental of which the security and utility deposits are refundable;
ii) Faster move in time unlike property purchase which takes 3-4 months to complete the deal and hand over the property.
iii) option of choosing length of stay according to tenant’s need ie. monthly or yearly tenancy ;
iv) No need to bear documentation costs such as legal fees for preparation of sale and purchase agreement and loan documents and stamping charges in connection with home ownership transfer and yearly taxes like assessment rates and quit rent.
v) No need to bear maintenance charges and structural repair costs either as these costs are also to be borne by the landlord.
vi) flexible of being relocated without having to worry about the empty home!

Recommended blogs on the advantages and disadvantages of Buying versus Renting, go to Renting vs Buying a home or Buying vs. Renting.

Whether renting is better than buying depends on many factors, including how fast prices rise and how long you will stay in your home. And now there is a new method rent-buy interactive calculator to compare the costs of buying and renting equivalent homes.

The methodology of the calculator keeps a running tally of the most common expenses of owning and renting. It also takes into account something known as lost opportunity costs — for example, the return you could have earned by investing your money instead of spending it on a down payment. The calculator assumes that the profit you would have made in your investments would be taxed as long-term capital gains and adjusts the bottom line accordingly. The calculator tabulates lost opportunity costs for all parts of the buying and renting scenarios.

This rent-buy interactive calculator allows home seekers to do their own comparisons on renting versus buying whereby you can i)  adjust the annual home price change and annual rental rates according to local market conditions  and ii) change inputs or variables such as your rate of return on investments, condo/common fees and your tax bracket to find out whether the buying is better than renting or otherwise!

Whilst no one can accurately predict the future pricing/rental trend of the houses in a particular area, however, analysis to find out average house price index or its trends based on the past historical housing data of say past 10 years or 15 years or 20 years of a similar class of property in a specific housing area can be quantified.

In Malaysia, information on property pricing trends and rental movements, current and future supply and take up rates of various sub-sector of Malaysia property market can be obtained from the annual publication of Malaysia Property Market Report published by Department of Valuation and Property Services (JPPH) and NAPIC quarterly reports. Find out more at 6 websites that property investors need to know in Malaysia. It would be good that a similar calculator can be generated in Malaysia using our very own housing data.

Views of new completed housing schemes in mainland Penang

Villa Cendana 2 ( Cendana Permai) at Juru

Dedaun - another housing scheme by PDC at Batu Kawan

Despite the onslaught of the global financial downturn, the Penang property sector in general has been resilient and relatively stable with no drastic movement in housing prices. The local housing developers have been better prepared this round to ride through the downturn with the exception of handful housing developers which are forced to slow down their construction activities or delay their project launchings during the height of the crisis. Though there are signs of market softening in 2H 2008 and 1H 2009, market sentiment for Penang property sector in the 2H 2009 has improved remarkably with more buyers/investors flocking back into the market whilst housing developers are beginning to make a come back and roll out more new planned projects in anticipation of improving economy outlook. Transaction activities in both primary as well secondary market are poised to pick up again buoyed by the continued support and lending by Malaysia’s banks with attractive financing packages at low interest rates of 3-4%.

Unlike the previous 1997/98 Asian Financial crisis, the Penang property sector at that time was badly hit due to the credit crunch of the Malaysia banking system and the sudden surge in lending rates to as high as 13%.  As a result, many housing projects were stalled and abandoned, with many developers were either facing cash flow and debt servicing problems and eventually collapsed and wiped off from the marketplace such as Adorna, Penas and Cayman etc. The aftermath of the crisis has crippled the Malaysia housing and construction sector with major property sectors suffered sharp price declines as much as 30-40% from their peak levels whilst the banking system saddled with huge bad loans and high NPLs.

Some notable projects in Penang/Kedah region which have been badly affected since the times of 1997/98 Asian Financial Crisis are mostly retail/commercial and several mega projects, some of which are still in abandoned stage and awaiting revival or resuscitation:-

Penang Island

Bayan Central – An uncompleted commercial complex located at Bayan Bayu which commenced construction in 1997 and subsequently stalled.

Bayan Bay Marina and Leisure Resort by Eternal Resources (joint venture between Anson Perdana and PDC) which was originally scheduled for completed by year 2000 but stalled for several years. This multi-million Bayan Mall (now Queensbay Mall) was successfully revived by CP Group and commenced business in 2005.

Mainland Penang (Seberang Perai)

Plaza utama- A commercial complex comprising 6 storey shopping mall, 213 room-hotel and one office block at Bukit Mertajam town. Plaza Utama development commenced in Nov 1995 and completed in 1997. The commercial complex was opened for business after completion but ceased business after a short stint.

View of Plaza Utama in Bukit Mertajam

City Parade at Jalan Megat Harun, Bukit Mertajam – Another completed commercial building which is similarly affected like Plaza Utama and ceased operation after opened for business for a short period.

Both buildings have long been put up for sale by former Danaharta now Prokhas and still looking for potential “white knight” to revive it.

Fasda Heights (Taman Bidara)- a mixed housing project in Macang Bubok, Bukit Mertajam with about 1,000 units which was not fully completed and handover to the purchasers.

Taman Perindustrian Macang Indah- an abandoned SMI industrial park at Sungai Lembu, Bukit Mertajam.

Leisure Tower- A 11-storey integrated commercial complex at Jalan Kampung Gajah, Butterworth by HCC Group originally schedule for completion end of 1999 but only partially completed and abandoned.

Kristal Golf Resort (Suasa Kristal) - a golf resort located at Sungai Bakap, Southern Seberang Perai, ceased operation several years ago and taken over by Danaharta. The site was reportly sold to a private housing developer.

Others approved commercial complexes which have been launched but failed to take off and subsequently shelved are “Plaza Everise” – a planned 2.3 acre commercial complex at Sungai Rambai Commercial Centre and  “Aseania Mall” at Bandar Perda. Both are located within bukit mertajam area. “Plaza Cayman”, another planned commercial project located adjacent to old MPSP building at the heart of Butterworth town.

Kedah

Padang Meha Parklands by MBF Country Homes and Resort (Alamanda) near Kulim– a proposed RM3 billion housing/resort development near Kulim covering 5,200 hectares launched prior to 1997/98 Asian Financial Crisis which has since abandoned. Latest report disclosed that the developer has been liquidated in year 2005. More related info here: Developer liquidated, 300 land buyers in the lurch. Others include the 160 hectare  residential resort scheme (Diamond Santuary) in Mukim Padang Meha near Kulim Hi Tech Park and the proposed RM1 billion Diamond Creeks Retreats with 800 hectares of land in Ulu Behrang, Perak near the proposed Proton City.

In a nutshell, the magnitude and severity brought about by the impact of the 2008/09 Global Financial Crisis on the Penang property sector is comparatively shorter and much lesser compared to 1997/98 Asian Financial Crisis. A healthier and resilient Malaysian banking system, on-going implementation of Malaysia economic stimulus package, Malaysia’s central bank prudent interest rate policy, relaxation of EPF housing withdrawals and other economic liberalization measures, have helped to cushion the impact of the recent economic downturn on the property sector. Malaysia economy is on track for a full recovery next year.

1.Fewer new project launchings - Unlike first quarter last year whereby a slew of new housing projects were launched feverishly, this quarter will likely see a subdue market with fewer housing project launchings judging from the promotional activities and advertisements in the local dailies during the period of year-end holiday seasons and new year festivities. Recent housing advertisements and promotional activities are mostly geared towards “stock clearance sales”, indicating that developers/contractors are attempting to reduce their overhang units or clear their inventory.

2.Softening property prices - Whilst some of the housing developers are still holding on to their selling prices, few have started reverting to their old selling prices after price increment ranging from RM10,000 to RM50,000 per unit 5-6 months ago due to escalating costs of fuel and building materials.

Previously, it is common to see developers offering “free legal fees for SPA” only. Now, developers are more “generous” in dishing out perks which include free legal fees for all documentations and absorb all stamping duties on transfer and loan and progressive interest payments during construction period and freebies like LCD TV, air-conditioners, home alarm system, no maintenance charges for first two years etc. Under such packages, If one is to purchase a house costing RM500,000.00 with 95% loan (RM475,000.00), the estimated “savings” can total up to RM35,000.00 - RM45,000.00 per unit or approximately 3-4% of the sales price. The primary market of  Penang Property Sector is likely to see more such offerings and new pro-consumer financial packages such as 5/95 Home Loan Package.

3.Higher overhang units were reported in 3Q08 in the latest NAPIC’s report of which 86% of the overhang units is from Seberang Perai (mainland Penang), which still has abundant of usable lands and is facing stiffer competitions as compared to Penang Island.

In a softening demand environment, developers are shifting strategies to shore up sales and focus more on cash flow management to sustain their projects rather than holding on to their overhang units whilst some may review their project plans to either cater for niche product segment or more affordable products range.  A clearer picture on the take-up rates of the ongoing housing projects which indicating the demand trend will emerge over the next few months when NAPIC releases its 4Q08 and 1Q09 reports.

4. Slower construction activities-Construction activities of some ongoing housing projects have also noticeably slowing down or scaled down in recent months. Several property developers in Penang have already announced plans to defer their projects in the state;here and here.

5. Lower housing supply -Given the global economic downturn and weak domestic market outlook,  the number of new housing supply coming on stream this year may be lower compared to previous good years. It is a challenging times for housing developers to launch new planned projects.

According to Malaysia’s NAPIC Report - Residential Property Stock Report 3Q08(Page 31-33), the Penang State housing stock totals 322,426 units including 1,687 newly completed units in 3Q08. The incoming supply (under construction and works started) is estimated at 51,612 units whilst another 34,648 units planned supply units from housing projects which have been approved as well as those submitted but pending approvals.

On the national front, Malaysia’s housing ministry has projected a lower number of supply of newly completed houses at 80,000 units for year 2009 as compared to annual average of 100,000 units. More at Ministry hopes for 80,000 homes in 2009.

As the property market in Malaysia is taking a breather, the current property downturn has opened up good opportunities for property investors with a long term prospective as Malaysia properties are still comparatively attractive as compared to other regions. For advisory on property investments in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, email to us at Izrin & Tan Properties Sdn. Bhd or call us at +604 6588333 (Penang Office) or +603 92839782 (Kuala Lumpur Office) and we would be pleased to assist.

New housing schemes in Bayan Lepas near Penang International Airport

View of  the newly completed housing scheme in Butterworth town.

The Penang Island property sector looks set for major transformation following the launching of two mega development projects within a span of 3 months in the second half of 2007 ie Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) by Equine Capital and The Light Waterfront by IJM Properties.

PGCC, a high-impact and widely publicized RM25bil project was launched by the Prime Minister of Malaysia in September 2007 to complement the NCER initiatives whilst The Light, a RM6.5 waterfront city along Penang’s eastern coastline unveiled in November 2007.

The launching of the two mega projects has received wide publicity coverage by the mainstream media.The vernacular press, sinchew, has given in-depth coverage as well with multiple photo slots on its website and has described it as mega projects which complement each other, each has its own distinct feature with the former being located at the Penang foothill whilst the latter is sited along the waterfront overlooking Penang eastern coastline. It has also provide a comparison of salient facts of the two mega projects.

PGCC, designed by Architect Hani Rashid, will feature architectural themes that synthesise local symbolism and historic forms with contemporary-style designs. The PGCC’s website provides much of the information on its development concept and master plan complete with an animated photo gallery. The website also highlights on the project features of carbon-zero city, PGCC Central Park and Penang Metropolitan Park. The 40ha Metropolitan Park, which will link the Youth Park and Botanical Garden, will see more open spaces for the public. Two flyovers costing RM140 million connecting PGCC to PORR will be built to smoothen the traffic flow of the area. Click here to see to aerial view of the PGCC site and the traffic flow. Over the past few months, the developer has embarked on a series of road shows and exhibitions highlighting that PGCC will benefit Penangites and attract foreign investments and boosting Penang tourism. The development of PGCC is expected to create up to 30,000 jobs.

Unlike The Light Waterfront, the launching of PGCC has generated mixed reactions and split views from the public. A pro-development body, PERINTIS and several Youth associations have voiced their support for the development of PGCC whilst several concerned Penang NGOs and the residents from nearby Jesselton area have voiced their objections and concerns on the implications of this controversial project on issues ranging from environment impacts, traffic congestion, project density, approval procedures etc. The development of PGCC may be delayed and scale down.

Update : The application for PGCC project has been formally rejected by the Penang State Authority on 6/8/2008.

For advisory on individual property investments in Penang, email to us at Izrin &Tan Properties Sdn. Bhd. or call us at +604 6588333 (Penang Office) or +603 92839782 (Kuala Lumpur Office) and we would be pleased to assist.

Map showing the approximate location of PGCC and The Light in relation to the proposed Penang Outer Ring Road (PORR) Alignment or Browse Google’s Map guide on Georgetown.

Location Map of PORR, PGCC and The Light (source from Thestar online)

The skyline of Penang Eastern Coastal area will see major changes when The Light is fully completed…

Home values set to rise as big-name players race to build high-quality developments on Malaysian island.

WHEN it comes to Malaysian property, foreign investors seldom set their sights beyond Johor, Kuala Lumpur (KL) and Malacca. But the island of Penang in the north is starting to come into its own.

Malaysia’s foreigner-friendly policy means that Singaporeans can buy properties freely in the country, as long as they are worth more than RM250,000 (S$110,000).

Home prices in Malaysia’s second-smallest state have been on the rise and property players say the area is drawing the attention of overseas buyers.

‘Prices are generally on the uptrend and properties located in prime areas have seen significant price increases of 10 per cent from a year ago,’ said Mr Tan Chai Liang, a consultant with Izrin & Tan Properties in Penang.

Still, the island’s properties remain affordable. In general, prices of Penang homes have ‘a lot of room for appreciation’, said Mr Michael Geh, a senior partner at property firm Raine & Horne.

In the high-end segment, homes are 30 to 50 per cent cheaper than those in KL, he added. Luxury condominiums in the KL city centre range from RM700 to RM1,500 per sq ft (psf), compared with RM400 or RM500 psf for Penang’s priciest condos.

But Penang is playing catch-up. The state’s government has been pouring money into large-scale infrastructure projects that are helping to boost home prices. Also, more developers are now investing in Penang. ‘For many years, there wasn’t much development in Penang. But now, bigger developers are coming in and bigger projects are being built,’ said Mr Geh.

Well-known developers from KL have begun to descend on Penang, lured by the lower land prices, which can be as little as a quarter of those in KL.

Since 2004, these developers have announced projects worth about RM30 billion to be built in Penang over the next 10 to 15 years.

The big players include luxury developer E&O Properties and leading construction and property firm CP Group.

With their entry into Penang come more high-quality projects and the promise of escalating property values.

Indeed, their arrival has helped home prices in the southern and south-western districts of Penang shoot up by more than 20 per cent in the past year, according to Malaysia’s Star newspaper. For instance, a condo development called Coastal Towers is now selling units at RM235,000 each, compared with RM180,000 previously, said Mr Geh.

Attention is also on the northern coast, which hosts a 9km tourism belt. Districts to look out for include Gurney Drive, Tanjung Bungah and Batu Ferringhi, where a slew of resort condos and waterfront villas are being built, said Mr Tan.

For a three-bedroom condo in these areas, investors can expect to pay RM350,000 to RM650,000, he added.

Annual rental yields are 6 per cent to 8 per cent for quality condos in prime areas.

For ’super condos’ with large floor areas of 4,000 sq ft and above, prices range from RM1.5 million to RM2 million, Mr Tan said.

Some high-profile projects include CP Group’s 74-acre Queensbay development, with shops, homes and offices. On sale now is the 160-unit Bay Star condo, which is 70 per cent sold at prices ranging from RM450,000 to RM1.4 million. CP Group estimates rentals at RM3,000 to RM8,000. Bay Villas, also a Queensbay project, will be previewed in Singapore next year. It has 86 freehold waterfront villas, each with a built-up area of 5,000 to 6,000 sq ft and priced at RM3.8 million to RM5 million.

Another Penang development being marketed in Singapore is Seri Tanjung Pinang, an integrated seafront development that its developer, E&O Property Development, says is similar to Sentosa Cove.

E&O, which opened its first overseas marketing office in Singapore last week, said it has received ‘keen interest’ for its Acacia semi-detached homes, priced from RM1.45 million each.

In December, it will launch its seafront villas - at RM2.5 million to RM6.5 million each - and may also sell the condo units in Singapore next year. Other homes in the development include courtyard terraces, which start from RM735,000 and offer rental yields of 6 to 10 per cent.

Strong attraction

Since 2004, well-known developers such as luxury developer E&O Properties and leading construction and property firm CP Group from Kuala Lumpur, have announced projects worth about RM30 billion (S$13 billion) to be built in Penang over the next 10 to 15 years.

Source: The Sunday Times, Singapore 28 Oct 07

For advisory on property investments in Penang email to us at Izrin &Tan Properties Sdn. Bhd. or call us at +604 6588333 (Penang Office) and we would be pleased to assist.

The NCER blueprint, prepared by master planner, Sime Darby, is expected to bring in RM177 billion investment into the Northern Corridor [Map Guide] covering 4 northern states of Peninsula Malaysia – Perlis, Kedah, Penang and Northern Perak to transform and expand the agricultural,manufacturing, tourism and logistics sectors until year 2025.

According to the NCER blueprint, five growth corridors will be created within the economic region ie. Island Corridor, Coastal Corridor, Central Corridor, Hinterland Corridor and Butterworth-Kulim-Baling-Pengkalan Hulu Grik Corridor. For more highlights on NCER, click here and here. More info are available at NCER’s website www.ncer.com.my.

The plan will position Penang into an integrated logistics hub for northern corridor. Amongst the high-impact projects earmarked for Penang are airport and port expansion, enhancement of public transportation system i) Rapid Penang Bus services , ii) high –speed ferry services iii) RM2Billion Penang Sentral – a central transport hub to be undertaken by MRCB and akin to Kuala Lumpur Sentral albeit at a smaller scale of about one fifth of its development size and iv) the Penang monorail project, micro-electronic center of excellence at USM and the RM18 Billion Penang City Centre to be promoted as MICE destination.

Update : more insights on NCER initiatives by SERI - Penang as an integrated logistics and transportation hub under northern corridor economic region.

For individual property advisory and investment in Northern Corridor of Malaysia, email to us or call us at +604 6588333 (Penang).

To what extend and how fast would all this initiatives and benefits cascading down to the ordinary people in the Northern Corridor ? Find out more on who are the beneficiaries of the NCER ? at Beneficiaries of the NCER and NCER big boost for Penang and which Property firms to get NCER benefits?.

Maps on Infrastructure road linkages;

Maps on Penang’s high impact projects under the NCER masterplan ;

Green homes, a relatively new home living concept to the local Malaysians, is beginning to make foray into the local housing scene. In recent months, Malaysia’s conglomerate and leading housing developer, YTL Land has taken a lead in preserving environment via its Bird Island project [Video] and has also announced its first green architectural competition in a move to encourage more home designs that promote sustainable living.

In Kuala Lumpur, another housing developer, Putra Perdana Development Sdn Bhd is carving a niche in designing and constructing energy-efficient buildings and has recently launched its D’Heron at the Lakes, a niche bungalow development located at Putrajaya offering green home features which received good response. More at Good response seen for green homes .

In Penang, Intproperties.com team went for a quick search recently on the availability of such new green homes during the recent MAPEX 2007 organized by REHDA Penang but found that there isn’t any housing schemes in Penang with green home features in their housing designs yet. In a related significant event, the Nationwide Environment Awareness Campaign 2007 was launched by the Prime Minister of Malaysia at Queensbay Mall, Penang two weeks ago urging Malaysians to save the environment. The Prime Minister has also urged housing developers and builders to pay heed to conscious planning to preserve the environment. Unlike Singapore which has already introduced the Building and Construction Authority’s (BCA) Green Building Master plan as well as providing incentives to encourage developers to embrace green housing technology for sustainable development- related link at Buildings going green with style and savings, Malaysia has yet to introduce such green master plan to encourage more local developers to follow suit. Like other industrialized countries in the world, Malaysia is facing similar environmental problems such as haze (Video), water pollution, unmanaged waste, global warming etc. Major cities of Malaysia ie Putrajaya- Kuala Lumpur, Penang have already recorded raising temperate caused by developments.

On the local front, the local council of MPSP Penang has recently conducted a Green Productivity workshop under the LA 21 initiative for the factories in Perai Industrial Area in a move to encourage more factories to adopt green productivity practices. More info on Green Productivity. The Malaysia government has also recently launched a program called Suria for Developers offering financial reward to the property developers that can come up with the best sustainable, eco-friendly housing development which incorporates solar panels or building integrated photovaltic (BIPV). The BIPV is an initiative by the Malaysia government under the 9th Malaysia Plan and implemented by Pusat Tenaga Malaysia under the stewardship of the Energy, Water and Communication Ministry.

As house buyers are increasingly discerning and environmentally conscious, they become selective and are demanding for better quality houses with eco-friendly features like the D’Heron at the lakes at Puterajaya by Putra Perdana apart from the primary factors such as location, pricing, architectural design and facilities when buying new homes. For aspiring home owners and house buyers, the next time you register for a new home with any housing developers for their upcoming projects, voice out that you wish to own a house that incorporates green home features and eco-friendly too !!

Read more for Green tips here and here! or participate in the upcoming seminar on 7th August 2007 a) The building industry’s solution to sustainable development or b) Regional conference on 5-7th November 2007Conference on Sustainable Building South East Asia – Theme : Strategies for Implementation.

The Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi launched the Nationwide Environment Awareness 2007 at Queensbay Mall, Penang on 8th July 2007.

Queensbay Mall, Penang

Recommended update link : Go green for a brighter future.

Penang Island’s south-eastern coastal area, stretching from Gelugor–Batu Uban-Sungai Nibong-Bayan Lepas area, is poised to be one of the Penang’s property hotspots. This strategic coastal area, supported by a good network of coastal highways ie. Jelutong Expressway and Bayan Lepas coastal highway as well as good accessibility to the mainland Penang via Penang Bridge and close proximity to the island’s main industrial hub of Bayan Lepas and Penang Cyber City, is gradually transformed into a vibrant business and affluent residential enclave.

In recent years, the Penang property sector has witnessed the successful completion of several developments along the south-eastern coastal area and the opening of Queensbay Mall, E-gate and Tesco hypermarket whilst new developments are being launched and built. Notable development schemes located along this sea-front reclaimed area are 73-acre Queensbay, 155-acre Bayan Mutiara and Techware’s four condominium schemes at Sungai Nibong (click here for location map). When both Queensbay and Bayan Mutiara developments are fully completed, this south-eastern enclave would also become Penang’s new waterfront resort precinct like Singapore’s Sentosa Cove.

Queensbay – A 73 acre mixed development project, formerly known as Bayan Bay, was revived by developer CP Group. This mixed development comprises existing commercial 3-storey shopofffices and Queensbay Mall, the largest shopping mall on the island with a built up area of 2.5 million sq ft and more than 1 million sq ft net lettable area of which about 255,000 sq ft is occupied by anchor tenant, Japanese-owned Jusco Store. Other ongoing and planned projects within Queensbay Master development plan include BayCapita, Baystar, Baygarden, Bayvillas, a 380 room three star hotel and a five star hotel. More update info as at 5.1.2008 on Queensbay Lure .

Bayan Mutiara – Penang Development Corporation (PDC)’s flagship mixed development project. D’Residence, sited on 96 acres reclaimed land and forming part of Bayan Mutiara master development plan, is the first upmarket housing project by PDC Properties in Penang. Phase one of D’Residence was launched last year comprises 113 units (70 units of superlinked houses, 14 units of twin bunglows, 15 units of supreme bunglows and 14 premium bunglows) at selling prices ranging from RM880,000 up to RM2.8mil.

Two newly completed condominiums scheduled to make entry into Penang’s luxury condominiums this year are Bayswater Condominium and Putera Marina Resort.

Bayswater Condominiums – a new freehold luxury sea-facing condominium project developed by IJM Properties and located adjacent to E-gate and Tesco hypermarket. It comprises 2 blocks of 26 storey condominiums with floor areas ranging from 1,173 sq ft to 1,636 sq ft each. The developer’s selling price ranges from RM321,000 to RM435,000 per unit. Whilst Putra Marine Resort is the latest condominium block developed by Techware and has a total of 126 sea-facing units. Each unit has a floor area of 2,027 sq ft to 2,723 sq ft priced at RM275.00 per square foot onwards.

Other existing condominiums located along this enclave include The View Condominiums, Putera Place, Gold Coast Condominiums, Sunny Ville, E Park and Villa Emas. Other medium range apartments include Bukit Dumbar Indah.

The View – a newly completed super twin tower condominiums with a skybridge developed by Penang-based developer, Ivory Sdn Bhd. The units are sea-facing and overlooking the Penang Bridge and has a built-up areas of 2,068 sq.ft for a typical unit that come with 5 +1 bedroom and 4 baths and 5,580 sq.ft for a penthouse unit. Prices ranging from RM633,000 to RM1.62 Million. Related link on The View Twin towers.

Gold Coast Condominiums- This resort condominium, completed in 1999, is sited on 11 acres of leasehold residential land, comprises 3 condominium blocks with a total 412 sea-frontage units. The floor area of the units ranges from 1,042 sq ft, 1600 sq ft up to 4,290 sq.ft. The market price ranges from RM300,000 to RM340,000 for a standard 3 bedroom condominium unit and RM450,000 to RM500,000 per unit for a bigger size units of 1,600 sq ft. Monthly rental rates from RM2,500 to RM3,000 per month.

Putra Place condominium is another condominium scheme by Techware with total units of 626 and completed in mid 2006. Each typical unit has a floor area of 1,000 sq ft whilst duplex and penthouse unit have floor areas of 1,872 sq ft and 2,000 sq ft respectively.

Villa Emas is the first scheme developed by Techware and completed in 1998. It is sited on over 10 acres of leasehold residential land and comprises 3 blocks of 16 storey condominiums with a total of 488 units. Each standard unit has a floor size of 850 sq ft to 950 sq.ft. Located alongside with the Bayan Lepas coastal highway, the scheme is popular amongst Penangites and recorded high occupancy rate. Individual strata titles has been issued. The market prices for a standard unit ranges from RM180,000 to RM240,000 depending on the condition / improvement of the unit whilst monthly rental ranges from RM750 for vacant unfurnished unit up to RM1,500 for furnished units.

Sunny Ville– An integrated resort condominium completed in 1994, comprises a total of 6 blocks of 22 storey in height with more than 500 units. Each typical unit has a floor area of 900 to 1,090 sq ft. Market price for a standard 3 bedrooms type ranges from RM220,000 to RM230,000 per unit whilst monthly rental rate for furnished unit ranges from RM1,000 to RM1,500.00.

E Park – completed in 1996 and located adjacent to Sunny Ville. It comprises 3 blocks with 350 standard units of 800 sq ft and 7 penthouses of 1,600 sq ft.

Lavinia Apartments – completed in 1994 and comprises 5 condominium blocks with a total 236 units with sea-view. Standard floor area ranges from 980 to 1,140 sq ft.

There are growing interest by foreign purchases and increasing numbers of expatriate communities residing in some of these sea-facing resort condominiums. For more information on property investments and advisory on your property needs and expatriate accommodation in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, email to us or call us at +604 6588333 (Penang) or +603 92839782 (KL), we would be pleased to assist.

Located close to Queensbay and a short distance away is Pulau Jerejak, an island that has vast potential to be an eco-tourism destination. Presently, only a small part of the island is being leased to Jerejak Resort whilst major part of the island has recently been gazetted by Penang state government as forest state park. There are plans to built a cable car connecting Queensbay mall to Pulau Jerejak and a theme park.

Intproperties.com has blogged and found that there are two websites that offer lots of photos and information on Pulau Jerejak, here and here.

View of Bayswater Condominiums, located near to E-gate and Tesco hypermarket.

The View twin towers condominiums as seen from Penang Bridge.

View of the Sunny Ville and E Park as seen from Penang Bridge. Sited on the coastal front is the Penang’s new marine police complex cum quarters.

An entourage of RTM crew has recently came to Penang to film a TV documentary on Batu Kawan Parliamentary area and its Member of Parliament MP Huan Cheng Guan. Amongst the places of focus are the site for the proposed Second Penang Bridge and Bandar Cassia in Batu Kawan, Auto City in Juru, Sungai Sembilang Village, Mybatik-a batik production house in Bukit Tengah and a little-known island of Pulau Aman. The half an hour TV programme will be aired through channel RTM 1 on 27th May 2007 (Sunday), Malaysian time 22.00 pm.

Like the much-publicized Iskandar Development Region (IDR) in the southern Peninsular of Malaysia, Batu Kawan Parliamentary area[click here for Location Map], which is situated in the mainland state of Penang and covers part of the two districts of central and southern Seberang Perai (stretching from Perai to Sungai Bakap), has great potential to be the future booming area of the northern Peninsular Malaysia. The construction of the proposed RM2.8 Billion Second Penang Bridge project, a major infrastructure projects initiated by the Federal Government under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP), is expected to generate tremendous economic spillover effects and accelerate the developments of the northern region.

The 2,680 hectare Batu Kawan land bank, formerly an oil palm estate, was acquired by Penang Development Corporation (PDC) in 1990’s and earmarked as Penang’s third satellite township after Bandar Baru Bayan Baru dan Seberang Jaya. The new township known as Bandar Cassia will take about 30 years to complete and has a projected population of 150,000. Crescentia Park, an 186 hectare township which forms part of the Bandar Cassia master plan, is currently being developed by Equine Group. There will be a 16-hectare park with man-made lakes within Crescentia Park. See related links at Equine riding high on Penang Projects and Equine Capital Unit launching houses in Crescentia Park. Besides this, the construction of the Penang International Equestrian Centre (PIEC) to relocate the Penang Turf Club to Batu Kawan is progressing well. More info at Work on equestrian centre in Batu Kawan picks up pace.

In addition, PDC has also launched its RM150 million project; Dedaun, a 127-acre bunglow village within Bandar Cassia offering 8 different country bungalow designs. Other housing developers have also capitalized on this and launched their schemes recently in the vicinity of Batu Kawan are Tambun Indah’s Juru Heights and Airmas Group’s Palm Garden.

Batu Kawan is also famous for its sea food industry. In recent years, many sea food restaurants have mushroomed in the vicinity. Located within Batu Kawan area and close to the proposed Second Penang Bridge is the little known small island of Pulau Aman. A new jetty known as Batu Musang Jetty at Batu Kawan has been built last year to enhance accessibility and further promote Pulau Aman as an eco-tourism destination similar to Pulau Jerejak. More interesting info on Pulau Aman.

Some snapshots on recent visit by RTM crew to Bandar Cassia, Batu Kawan and Pulau Aman….

Mr C H Kwong, General Manager of Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd and the developer of Crescentia Park, briefing MP Huan dan RTM crew on Batu Kawan development plan.

Coincident meet at Pulau Aman between MP Huan and Datuk Zainal Rahim Seman, who was on his last inspection assignment of an infrastructure project in Pulau Aman prior to his appointment as the new Council President of Penang Island Municipal Council (MPPP).

View of Pulau Aman, with potential to be an eco-tourism destination.