July’10: Penang property prices to increase by 5-10% over the next 18 months

Property prices in Penang are expected to rise by 5-10% from now until the end of 2011, as reported by David Tan in TheStar on 17th July 2010.

Here are some of the highlights of the article:

• Developers plan to launch 2,696 units of residential properties with an estimated gross sales value of over RM2.1bil on the island and the mainland.
• 1,676 units of these properties, with an estimated of RM1.84bil, are located on the island.
• (Rehda, Penang) chairman Datuk Jerry Chan told StarBizWeek thatproperty prices in Penang were expected to rise between 5% and 10% over the next 18 months.

The full story also includes details of New Property Launches in Penang over 2010/2011:

Penang gears up for more property launches
By David Tan in TheStar on 17th July 2010

HOUSING prices in Penang are expected to rise further over the next 18 months, as local and Kuala Lumpur-based developers plan to launch 2,696 units of residential properties with an estimated gross sales value of over RM2.1bil on the island and the mainland.

Some 1,676 units of these properties, with an estimated of RM1.84bil, are located on the island.

The other 1,020 units of these developments, with an estimated gross sales value of RM300mil, are located on the mainland.

IJM Land Bhd, S.P. Setia Bhd, Asas Dunia Bhd, MTT Properties & Development Sdn Bhd, and Ideal Property Group are among the local and Kuala-Lumpur developers that have drawn up plans for new launches from now till the second quarter of 2011. Real Estate Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda, Penang) chairman Datuk Jerry Chan told StarBizWeek that property prices in Penang were expected to rise between 5% and 10% over the next 18 months.

This was only a very conservative estimate, Chan said after the Star Property Fair 2010 Round-Table Dialogue held at the Star Northern Hub in Bayan Lepas, Penang, on July 9. The dialogue, moderated by The Star’s regional editor (north) Choi Tuck Wo, is a prelude to the Star Property Fair 2010 that will be held from July 23 to 25 at G Hotel and Gurney Plaza.

“The higher pricing reflects the rising land, construction and material costs, and the higher quality, more spacious and better design products from developers,” says Chan.

“Other factors include the influx of money from regional investors and Malaysians abroad, and the positive forecast from the government that the country’s GDP will be over 6% this year,” Chan says.

He says it is time for the state government to brand Penang’s products and services because of the island’s liveability and uniqueness and the fact that its property prices are one-quarter that of Singapore’s.

He calls for a directory to list comprehensively Penang’s hospitality services, products, facilities, and manufacturing services.

He says current efforts to promote Penang such as road shows have not been effective.

Henry Butcher Malaysia (Penang) director Dr Teoh Poh Huat is also in agreement that property prices would rise between 5% to 10% from now till next year.

According to the Valuations & Property Services Department from the finance ministry, the residential property pricing in Penang had soared above that of Kuala Lumpur in 2009 by over 2.5%, Teoh says.

The housing price index of Penang was 145 in 2009, compared with that of Kuala Lumpur and the national average, which was 142 and 130, Teoh says.

“Among the drivers of residential property prices in Penang include foreign investments from China because the Chinese government have started to implement policies to curb property speculation,” Teoh says.

The largest development projects on the island are by IJM Land, which has lined up over RM1bil worth of residential properties to be launched for the second half of 2010 and 2011.

IJM Land Bhd managing director Datuk Soam Heng Choon says these properties include the RM830mil Light Collection projects, comprising 585 units of condominiums, bungalows, and town-houses next to Penang Bridge, the RM113mil The Address in Bayan Baru, comprising 148 units of condominiums cum town-house scheme, and the RM70mil Permatang Sanctuary project, comprising 170 units of semi-detached and bungalow houses, in Bukit Mertajam.

The Light Collection properties, to be launched in October 2010 and in the second and third quarters of 2011, are priced between RM700 to RM800 psf, while the pricing for The Address, to be launched in December 2011, starts from RM625,000 to over RM1mil.

The landed properties in Permatang Sanctuary, to be launched in January 2011, are priced between RM400,000 and RM700,000.

SP Setia is launching condominiums, terraced houses, and bungalows with a gross sales value of about RM425mil in the south-west and north-east districts of the island.

SP Setia (north) general manager S. Rajoo says the RM180mil high-rise project in Setia Pearl Island, Sungai Ara, comprising 300 condominiums would be launched in the second quarter of 2011, while the RM180mil Setia Eco Greens project in Sungai Ara, comprising 167 terraced and semi-detached properties, and the RM65mil Brookes Residence projects in Taman Jesselton, comprising 11 bungalow houses, have been targeted for launch in the first quarter of next year.

Prices for the condominium scheme starts from RM400,000, while the bungalow houses are priced from RM898,880 onwards, and Brookes Residence bungalows from RM5.8mil onwards.

Ideal Property Group will also be launching RM370mil worth of landed residential properties comprising 436 units of terraced, super-linked, and semi-detached houses for its One Residence project in Bayan Lepas, the southwest district of the island.

Ideal Property managing director Datuk Alex Ooi says in September the group would launch 316 units, and in the second quarter 2011, another 120 units.

Prices range between RM650,000 and RM1.4mil, he adds.

MTT Properties & Development Sdn Bhd general manager Jason Tan says the group plans to launch at end of the year in Balik Pulau, 29 units of three-storey hillside villas for its Botanica.CT project, overlooking the Andaman Sea, with a gross sales value of RM100mil. The properties, with a built-up area of 8,000sq ft, will be priced from RM2.5mil onwards.

On the mainland, Asas Dunia plans to launch RM230mil worth of residential properties comprising 500 single storey semi-detached houses, and 350 double-storey terraced, double-storey semi-detached, and light industrial houses in Bukit Mertajam, Simpang Ampat, Nibong Tebal, Sungai Bakap, and Permatang Tinggi from late July till the second quarter of 2011.

Chan, who is also Asas Dunia managing director, says the single-storey semi-detached unit, with built-up and land areas of 1,200sq ft and 2,660sq ft respectively, was priced between RM150,000 and RM290,000.

The double-storey semi-detached unit, with built-up and land areas of 2,557sq ft and 2,724sq ft, is priced from RM358,888 onwards.

“These properties will be launched in phases starting end of July. Their prices are already about 5% higher than the previous launches,” Chan says.

Source: TheStar