Young buyers flock to property market

Why millennials are flocking to real estate

Interest rate cuts, govt incentives spur buying interests

“We believe the strong growth in our young buyers is both a natural evolution and as a result of a conscious strategic effort we have made to appeal to this important customer group,"-
Datuk Chang Khim Wah

 

Eco World Development Group Bhd president and chief executive officer Datuk Chang Khim Wah told StarBiz the increase in younger buyers was due to a conscious strategic effort made by the group to appeal to this target market.

Property developers are seeing a pick up in sales, especially from younger buyers, as the numerous interest rate cuts and government incentives have spurred buying interest.

Eco World Development Group Bhd president and chief executive officer Datuk Chang Khim Wah said the increase in younger buyers was due to a conscious strategic effort made by the group to appeal to this target market.

“During our initial years of operations (circa 2015) the percentage of young buyers (below 40 years old) was around 43% and today it is more than 70%.

“We believe the strong growth in our young buyers is both a natural evolution and as a result of a conscious strategic effort we have made to appeal to this important customer group, both through the products we are offering as well as the way in which we engage them via social media and digital channels, ” he told StarBiz.

Of the 70%, Chang said around 50% are in their 30s and the remaining 20% are in their 20s. “We are particularly happy that a good number of these buyers include children of our own customers and residents in the vicinity of our development. This validates our efforts over the last few years to make a strong pivot to serve the needs of this market segment and the wider M40 group.

“Our upcoming launch of the new Duduk series of vertical townships offering semi-furnished apartments priced below RM400,000 at Eco Ardence and Eco Sanctuary, as well landed homes starting from RM500,000 at Eco Botanic 2, will enable us to further capture the hearts and minds of this very important market segment.”

Chang said the prolonged movement control order (MCO) period has really made many young people realise that the quality of home and living environment matters greatly.

Mah Sing Group Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Ho Hon Sang (pic below) said as the bulk of its projects comprised units within the affordable range segment, the majority of its buyers comprised those below 35 years of age.

“For Mah Sing, 84% of our target sales for 2020 are for residential properties priced below RM700,000 with key focus in the affordable segment. We typically see about 65% of buyers who are 35 years and below, for most of the affordable projects were launched in recent years. Hence, the majority of our buyers are first time homeowners.”

Despite the challenging market environment in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ho said demand continues to be resilient as property remained one of the safest forms of asset class for long-term capital protection and appreciation.

“Malaysia’s population is still very young with 66% below 40 years old and as such, household formation continues to be strong. Affordably-priced properties of good quality and at strategic locations remain highly sought after.

“This is especially for first-time home buyers, which augers well for Mah Sing’s product composition.”

Sunway Property said it is seeing increasing interest from younger buyers from 25 years to 35 years in its properties that are transit-oriented and have good facilities nearby.

“For example, our developments such as the transit-oriented Sunway Avila in Wangsa Maju, the integrated and transit-oriented Sunway Velocity TWO and the youth-focused development of Sunway Grid in Sunway Iskandar has seen enthusiastic response from younger purchasers, ” it said.

Property data, analytics and solutions provider MyProperty Data chief executive officer Thor Joe Hock said the median age for residential property transactions has gradually dropped over the years.

“When we look at the over 2.5 million residential property transactions, including serviced apartments, it appears that the median age of buyers from 2000 to 2019 has remained largely unchanged at between 34 to 35 years of age.

“However, when you break it down into landed and non-landed transactions, we start to get a clearer picture. The median age for non-landed properties has fallen from 40 years in 2000 to 28 years in 2019; while the median age for landed property purchasers marginally decreased from 40 years to 37 years over the same period.”

MyProperty Data manages a property data portal called PropertyAdvisor.

Meanwhile, Lagenda Properties Bhd managing director Datuk Jimmy Doh said more than half of its buyers are below 39 years of age.

“We believe as young people start new phases in their lives, for example getting a job or starting their own families, they prefer to stay independently and have their own space, granted that the properties are within their price range.

“Over the past few years, we have been seeing an increase in buyers. Our properties are priced below RM200,000, ” he said.

MIDF Research in a recent report said the aggressive overnight policy rate (OPR) cuts have improved home buyers’ purchasing power.

“Bank Negara cut its overnight policy rate for the fourth time this year by 25 basis points (bps) to a record low of 1.75% in July due to the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy. The aggressive OPR cuts this year are positive to the sector as it improved home buyer’s purchasing power by reducing loan installments.

“We estimate monthly installments to reduce by 14%, after 125 bps cut for RM500,000 loan with a loan repayment period of 30 years, which is quite significant in our view. Hence, we think the record-low interest rate will partly help to alleviate home buyers’ issue of securing home financing, as the record low yield has boosted the affordability of home buyers.”

MIDF Research also said it expected loan demand to recover in the second half of 2020.

Citing Bank Negara’s statistics, it said total applied loan for the purchase of property improved sequentially by 52.9% month-on-month to RM13.1bil in May, after plunging by 64.8% month-on-month in April.

“Note that total applied loan recorded steep decline in April due to the disruption to business activity following the commencement of the MCO.

“Nevertheless, total applied loan in May was lower by 61.8% year-on-year while cumulative total applied loan in the first five months of 2020 was lower by 33.6% year-on-year, indicating buying interest was subdued.”

Looking ahead, the research house expected buying interest to recover in the second half of this year, spurred by incentives introduced by the government.

Under the Short-Term Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana), which was announced in June, the government reintroduced the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC). Under the HOC, stamp duty exemption will be provided on the transfer of property and loan agreement for the purchase of home priced between RM300,000 and RM2.5mil.

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Penang Star Property Fair at Queensbay Mall 2016

Developers all smiles with results

Great response: Visitors looking at the scale model displayed at the Ideal Property Group exhibition booth at the StarProperty.my Fair at Queensbay Mall in Bayan Lepas, Penang.

GEORGE TOWN: Ten developers generated RM144mil in sales during the four-day StarProperty.my Fair 2016 held at Queensbay Mall.

About RM60mil came from the properties marketed by Zeon Properties Sdn Bhd, which are Ewein Zenith’s City of Dreams, Aroma Development’s Starhill, Devoteshens Sdn Bhd’s My Sakura 28, Tawakar Group’s 98 Residence, Stallion Group’s Vos, and Bionic Land’s Prominence.

The sale of projects from Ideal Property, Asia Green, CI Medini and Aspen Group generated the remaining RM84mil.

Ideal Property general manager (sales & marketing) Nancy Teo said the turnout was not disappointing.

“Given the current economic challenges, we are satisfied with our sales, which was about RM15mil for the past four days.

“There are several hundred potential buyers with whom we need to follow up after the fair.

“They have indicated their interests to view our show units,” she said.

Asia Green creative director Mei Tan said the buyers for QuayWest and The Clovers were those who wanted to upgrade their lifestyle with a new house.

“We sold RM6mil worth of properties during the four-day fair.

“The QuayWest and The Clovers are respectively 50% and 80% sold,” she said.

CI Medini’s marketing director Datuk Seri Jacky Ker said the company generated about RM50mil in sales at the fair with the sale of 70 units of multi-storey shop units in the Ion Axxes project.

Developers such as IJM Land Bhd, Mah Sing Group Bhd, Sunway Bhd and Eco World Development Group Bhd also received overwhelming responses for their projects.

Mah Sing senior chief operation officer Seth Lim said a big pool of visitors were young families.

“Some of the buyers looked into getting a second property or explored investment opportunities.

“We are happy with the response as we were able to secure a few hundred registrations,” Lim added.

EcoWorld general manager Khoo Teck Chong said the group received hundreds of enquiries for the Eco Bloom project in Simpang Ampat.

“Taking advantage of the low interest rates in the market, we also plan to launch the RM8bil Eco Horizon and Eco Sun mixed-development projects in Batu Kawan next year,” Khoo added.

IJM Land senior general manager Datuk Toh Chin Leong said the group planned to launch the Waterside Residence project for the second phase of The Light Waterfront scheme next month.

“The sales of our current projects like the Trehaus in Bukit Jambul and Permatang Sanctuary in Bukit Mertajam should help us achieve the targeted RM240mil revenue for Penang.

“Last year, the revenue contribution from Penang was RM168mil.

“Next year we will launch the Senjayu in Jawi, 3 Residence at Karpal Singh Drive and The Terraces Condominium in Bukit Jambul,” Toh added.

Experts share nuggets of wisdom with house-hunting visitors at the fair

PENANG, acknowledged by CNN as one of the best places to retire in the world, continues to attract numerous interest in its property sector, said Zeon Properties group chief executive officer Leon Lee.

He said Penang partnering Temasek Holdings in developing the Penang Technology Park would create 30,000 job opportunities in the near future, and this would in turn boost the property demand.

“The state recorded 10% growth in arrivals via the Penang International Airport in 2014 from six million to 6.6 million in 2015. And it is expected to increase to eight million this year.

“A growing economy, international recognition from our various accolades, improved state policy and welfare as well as the moderate cost of living will continue to attract people.

“On the island, 67% of the land is occupied by hills and forest reserves which cannot be used for development. This is why property prices will continue to soar,” he said in his talk on ‘Penang Property Outlook: Why Invest in Penang?’ at the StarProperty.my Fair 2016 in Queensbay Mall.


 Meanwhile, Prof Joe Choo said first-time home buyers should weigh their decision carefully in picking the property.
 
In her talk on ‘Feng Shui Tip to Enrich Your Life’, she advised those buying their second property for business or to upgrade to ensure that it faced the same direction as the first one because that was the direction where they made their money.

Property investors were also urged to bear in mind the ‘stay, work and play’ motto before buying properties.

Freemind Works founder and property investment coach Kaygarn Tan said an ideal investment should come from city living that integrates the way in which people live, work, shop and play.

He cited Bayan Lepas as a good example in his talk ‘How to Get Better than Average Rental Yield’.

“We have Queensbay Mall and the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Zone in the area.

“So getting a property here is a good option as the elements of work, play and shop will surely complement the living aspect.

“Remember, all the components must co-exist within a 5km-radius,” he said.

Meanwhile, Diligent Planners Sdn Bhd founder Vince Chia said young people should get their first home even if it had to come from the secondary market.

He said houses priced between RM200,000 and RM250,000 in the secondary market were considered good options.

“Servicing a bank loan of less than RM250,000 should be considered comfortable for a fresh graduate with a RM3,000 monthly income.

“After all, you will probably be staying alone at first. You can upgrade in a few years’ time.

“If you are getting a ‘start-up’ home, forget about getting a house worth more than RM700,000.

“It’s a burden,” he said in his talk titled ‘Easy loan approval like 1-2-3’.

Full-time property investor and trainer Rachel Lim encouraged the visitors to look at the rental and capital appreciation of properties before investing.

“Do not simply jump into an investment but instead look for fundamentally good properties.

“It is a ‘bargain sale market’ during an economic slowdown. We should be excited, grab the opportunity and buy good properties,” she said in her talk on ‘Boom or Burst 2017 Malaysia Property Market.

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LRT project boost for property near FIZ - Properties around industrial zone soaring in value due to upcoming LRT project

“One of them is the Trehaus project which comprises condominium villas and semi-detached villas,” she said.

PROPERTIES located within the proximity of the Free Industrial Zone (FIZ) which has been earmarked for the LRT line were the most sought-after at the StarProperty.my Fair 2016 in Penang.

C.M. Ong, 32, who works in Bayan Lepas, said he was looking for a high-rise unit near the FIZ as an investment which could generate better yield in rental.

“It is good to consider a location where there will be major infrastructure developments.

“The area is also close to the Queensbay Mall.

“I understand that the property value in FIZ has shown a steady increase for the past five years due to the number of fresh amenities in the area,” he said yesterday.

He was checking out the condominiums in Tropicana Bay Residences in Bayan Mutiara by Tropicana Ivory Sdn Bhd.

Air freight clerk Naseem Ali Shaik Othman, 38, said the Triuni Residences within The Sanctuary masterplan by the Runnymede Group of Companies offered the best of both worlds as an urban resort condominium.

“The appeal is the location in Batu Uban, where it is easily connected to the Bayan Lepas area and George Town. We like the urban setting, the sea view and resortstyle amenities,” he said.

The father of four said the gated and guarded safety feature would also provide a safer environment and community to raise a family.

Administrator Nor Syahira Roslan, 23, said her preferred location was Bukit Jambul as it was close to her parent’s house.

“I would prefer a landed property as it offers better privacy.

“The value of a landed property, as I understand, also appreciates faster and is more stable.

“The Bukit Jambul area has a wide range of landed properties up for sale.

“One of them is the Trehaus project which comprises condominium villas and semi-detached villas,” she said.  - The Star

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Developers shift focus to higher-priced residential properties in Penang; Busy in construction sector 2016

Projects worth RM41bil in Penang next year

 

Chan: ‘We still foresee the volume and value transactions of properties to contract in 2016. However, the contraction this time won’t be so sharp." (Default Alternate Text: "Chan: ‘We still foresee the volume and value transactions of properties to contract in 2016. However, the contraction this time won’t be so sharp.

GEORGE TOWN: Five developers will undertake RM4.33bil in property projects in Penang next year despite a challenging year for the property market.

The developers planned to price their mostly residential properties from between RM480,000 and RM3.3mil.

The price range came on the heels of this year’s launches of between RM200,000 and RM400,000 in strategic locations.

The developers would be shifting their focus to higher-priced residential properties.The condominium units in Bayan Lepas will be from 1,000 sq ft and priced from RM480,000 while three-storey houses with built-up of 5,300 sq ft will be priced at RM3.3mil in Seri Tanjung Pinang.

The developers are IJM Land Bhd with gross development value (GDV) of RM415mil, Ideal Property Group (RM1.46bil GDV), Hunza Properties Bhd (RM600mil GDV), Eastern & Oriental Bhd (RM650mil GDV) and Mah Sing Group Bhd (RM1.2bil GDV).

Real Estate & Housing Developers’ Association (Penang) chairman Datuk Jerry Chan told StarBiz that developers could be shifting their focus to properties priced from RM400,000 as there was a large supply of housing priced between RM200,000 and RM400,000 targeting first-time buyers.

This did not mean that buyers have lost interest in affordable housing with built-up of 900 sq ft and priced from RM500 to RM600 per sq ft.

Chan pointed out that developers would continue to build housing in the affordable range to leverage on the higher density for plots of land but there would be a gradual shift to the “non-affordable” range.

He added that there would be fewer launches in 2016, due to the difficulties in obtaining bridging and end-financing loans from banks.

Referring to the incoming supply of housing that were currently under construction, Chan said this would be spread over a five- to 10-year period, depending on market demand and the size of the schemes.

The National Information Property Centre (Napic) report revealed that the state would see an incoming supply of 72,114 units into the market.

According to the Napic report, the existing stock of houses in the state stood at 393,303, compared with 383,484 in the first half of 2014.

“We still foresee the volume and value transactions of properties to contract in 2016. However, the contraction this time won’t be so sharp,” Chan said.

Ideal executive chairman Datuk Alex Ooi said the group had developed 4,840 units of affordable projects on the island for the last two years.

“We have sold about 60% of these properties. Moving ahead, the strategy is to move into the non-affordable range priced between RM400,000 and RM600,000.

“Ideal Property still has around 300 acres of land bank on the island. We have some 25,000 units of properties planned for the land bank.

“There are still 8,000 units of properties with more than RM4bil in GDV to be implemented over the next 10 years, priced between RM400,000 and RM600,000,” Ooi said.

‘Moderate to flat’ outlook

Ooi expected property market conditions to be “moderate” to “flat” in the coming year.

Mah Sing (North) senior general manager Law Wei Keong said the company had recently completed a survey on the preference of housing products in the country.

“The study revealed that a majority of the 6,000 surveyed favoured houses priced in the range of RM500,000 to RM700,000,” he said.

Of the RM2bil worth of housing projects launched in the country this year, about 16% were priced from RM1mil, while the remaining 84% are below RM1mil, according to Law.

IJM Land senior general manager (north) Datuk Toh Chin Leong said despite the weak market sentiment, the company would continue to launch properties priced below RM800,000.

“It will be a slow year for the property market in 2016,” Toh said.

 TrehausIJM Land’s pipeline of projects for next year in Penang included the RM232mil Waterside Residence in The Light Waterfront project next to Penang Bridge, the RM64.7mil Trehaus Condo Villa scheme in Bukit Jambul, and the RM118.4mil Senjayu Terrace project in Jawi, South Seberang Prai.

The Trehaus and the Waterside Residences scheme would be launched in the second quarter of 2016, while the Senjayu Terrace would be introduced in late 2016.

“The price of the three property schemes ranged between RM730,000 and RM1.3mil,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ideal would be launching the RM460mil Forestville, RM600mil Queens Waterfront Residences, and RM400mil Camerlina, located in Bayan Lepas, priced between RM480,000 and RM800,000.

“There is still growing need for mid-range houses that is reasonably priced, located within mature township, surrounded and supported by amenities such as schools with good accessibility, lower density with lifestyle concept,” he said.

Eastern & Oriental will develop the recently launched RM482mil Tamarind and 50 units of terraced houses with a RM168mil GDV in Seri Tanjung Pinang.

The Tamarind units, ranging between 1,000 sq ft and 1,770 sq ft, are priced around RM691,000 and RM1.16mil, while the terraced units, with built-up areas of 5,300 sq ft, are priced from RM3.3mil.

Its general manager (marketing and sales) Christina Lau said the Tamarind was scheduled for completion in 2019.

No date has been set for the completion of the 50-terraced properties.

Mah Sing to unveil Ferringhi Residence 2

Mah Sing will launch the RM735mil Ferringhi Residence 2, the RM350mil Icon Residence and an unnamed RM150mil project in Southbay City, Batu Maung.

“We are targeting the Ferringhi Residence 2 launch in the first quarter,” Law said.

The Ferringhi Residence 2 consists of three blocks offering 632 units with built-up areas from 1,208 sq ft to 2,910 sq ft, priced from RM775,265.

Law said the pricing for the unnamed project would be below RM680 per sq ft.

“The units have built-up areas of 750 sq ft to 1,000 sq ft,” he said.

Meanwhile, Hunza will develop the RM600mil Alila 2 project in Tanjung Bungah, 270 units which have built up of between 1,900 sq ft and 3,300 sq ft, priced from RM775 per sq ft.

“We will promote the 9.8acre project in Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Singapore early next year.

“The key attractions are the size of the units, which are extremely scarce on the island nowadays,” group managing director Khor Siang Gin said.

By David Tan The Star

Construction sector to be busy in 2016 with projects worth RM83bil 

KUALA LUMPUR: WITH over RM83bil worth of infrastructure jobs to be awarded next year, it is going to be a busy year for the construction sector in 2016.

“The 11th Malaysia Plan unveiled in May 2015 has reaffirmed the strong pipeline of construction jobs till 2020. The record awards of project delivery partners (PDPs) for four major infrastructure projects with total value of RM80bil have further reiterated the potential works,” said Maybank IB Research in a recent strategy report. This flow of contracts if they are rolled out according to plan, is a new record, outpacing the high of RM28bil dished out in 2012.

The strong job flows are expected to be driven from new tenders in public transport, oil & gas downstream infrastructure and water-related jobs.

New award phase for the Klang Valley Mass Rapid Transit Line 2, is set to take off from the first half of next year while the other rail project coming on strean is the Klang Valley Light Railway Transit (KVLRT) 3. The Gemas-JB double track, which is being reviewed, is another potential.

The total value of rail-related construction jobs was estimated at RM39bil in the medium term, said CIMB Research. “These could be broken into 17-20 chunky packages worth between RM800mil and RM1.5bil each, excluding underground portions,” the research firm said in its recent outlook report.

As for highways, there are the RM4.2bil Damansara-Shah Alam Highway (DASH), the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE), and the remaining West Coast Expressway (WCE) packages to be awarded. In East Malaysia, eleven more packages of the 1,090km Pan-Borneo Highway is expected to be tendered out in phases next year.

As for oil and gas infrastructure, Petronas’ Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development (Rapid) project in Pengerang, Johor, is expected to see investments worth RM18bil based on Budget 2016.

On water-type contracts, CIMB Research reckoned that over RM2bil worth of jobs could be dished out and this excludes potential jobs from the private sector side.

The country’s strengthened ties with China have also injected further optimism into the construction sector.

“Chinese contractors have expressed interest in the rail projects, specifically, the Gemas-JB double track rail and Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed rail. Local contractors could partner them in bidding for the projects. With the Chinese companies’ ability to offer attractive financing packages, this would raise their chances of winning the projects, while allaying concerns on project funding issue,” said Maybank Research.

One other key project to watch for is the Penang Transportation Master Plan (PTMP) that is said to have contract value of RM27bil.

As for stock picks, Maybank IB Research has Gamuda Bhd at its top pick. The stock was a likely beneficiary of the PTMP and could also clinch additional jobs from the mega rail projects including KVLRT 3 and Gemas-JB double track rail, the research firm said.

CIMB Research also has Gamuda as its big-cap pick for the largest exposure to MRT 2. Among small/mid-cap it has Muhibbah Engineering Bhd as the preferred stock for the company’s US-dollar theme and exposure to Petronas’ Rapid.

“In the water segment, Salcon Bhd could emerge with a bigger share of wins. The company’s tender book currently stood at RM1bil to RM2bil,” said CIMB Research.

On the other hand, Public Invest Research has a neutral “call” on the sector as “most of the counters under our coverage were already fairly valued.”

“Currently, the construction index is priced at 13 times one-year forward earnings, which is also equal to its long-term mean. Hence, we believe the sector is fully valued for now, with most positives already priced in.”

As for stock picks, the research firm favours WCT Holdings Bhd as its job replenishment was better than expected with RM2.7bil clinched to-date, bumping up its unbilled orderbook to more than RM5bil. “Hock Seng Lee Bhd is expected to benefit from the Pan Borneo project, while Gamuda also looks attractive after the stock dipped below our fair value.”

By Gurmeet Kaur The Star