KL Metro launches RM400m Negri water homes project

SEREMBAN: Kuala Lumpur Metro Group has launched its latest water homes project called The Hibiscus Port Dickson in Pasir Panjang here.

With a gross development value of RM400 million, the project features 642 high-end resort homes with sizes ranging from 770 sq ft to 872 sq ft.

The project, which comprises three phases, started in August this year and is expected to be completed by 2014.

KL Metro managing director Datuk Low Tak Fatt said 108 units of the first phase had been sold out mainly to foreign investors from Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau and Indonesia.

"Every unit has its own swimming pool and steam sauna room. This is the luxury that other resorts do not offer," he said.

KL Metro also officially opened its five-star resort, Grand Lexis Port Dickson.

The resort offers 323 villa comprising 166 Water Homes, 118 Garden Homes and 39 Skypool Villas.

All units are based on a "water homes" concept and each has its own swimming pool.

"Grand Lexis will be the flagship of our strategic branding of true Malaysian warm hospitality," said Low.

Since its opening in November 2009 until August this year, the resort has attracted 550,000 tourists with the majority of them foreigners, mainly from the Asia-Pacific region. Low said this has contributed to the tourism sector in Negri Sembilan.

The Grand Lexis and the Lexis Port Dickson resorts, formerly known as The Legend Water Chalets, are currently under the management of KL Metro

By Business Times

Lend Lease Projects to focus on end-to-end property solutions

KUALA LUMPUR: Project management company WTW Bovis and Bovis Lend Lease has been rebranded as Lend Lease Projects.

All businesses in the Lend Lease Group throughout the world are now operating under one brand, "Lend Lease".

According to Lend Lease, it is implementing a unified brand to clear up confusion in some areas of the marketplace about who Lend Lease is and what it does. It is also to assist the group to drive maximum value from its integrated offering.

Lend Lease's managing director in Malaysia, Dinesh Nambiar, said Lend Lease has been operating in the Asian market for 38 years, and in Malaysia for 30 years.

"Our clients will still receive quality service and commitment that they usually get from us. We have made a name for ourselves in project management and design & build projects.

"Through Lend Lease's global integrated business approach, moving forward, we will be focusing on exploring end-to-end property solutions such as development, investment management, and asset & property management with our clients," he said in a statement.

Dinesh said the company's business in Malaysia is now known as Lend Lease Projects (M) Sdn Bhd.

The company expects the major rebranding activities to be completed by June next year.

He said current construction and development projects that are due to be completed before December 31 this year will retain their existing branding.

All other major projects will be rebranded from now on and all new projects will be branded to Lend Lease.

By Business Times

Exhibition aims to draw higher property transactions this year

Eager buyers: Throngs of visitors flock to Perfect Lifestyle in search of great deals, bargains and rewards.

As an excerpt from a famous English poem goes, “Home is where the heart is”, this must be especially true for home buyers in Malaysia as property transactions are expected to exceed RM100bil in values this year from RM96.77bil in the first 11 months the year before.

According to the Valuation and Property Services Department, residential sales were chalking up some 62% of that value. Home owners are in for a treat as the 13th edition of the country’s premier Home & Living exhibition lands in Kuala Lumpur in November.

Perfect Lifestyle ’11, from the creators of the popular Perfect Livin Home and Lifestyle exhibition, opens its doors again at Mid Valley Exhibition Centre Kuala Lumpur from Nov 25 to 27.

Strengthening its position as the leading provider of a hassle-free one-stop solution platform for renovations, refurbishments, decorations, home innovations and improvements, Perfect Lifestyle ’11 will aim to visitors with an even higher level of satisfaction in terms of choice, deals and ideas.

With over 300 booths from more than 100 industry-leading exhibitors, Malaysia’s foremost exhibition is sure to whet the appetite of consumers in the home and living industry.

The exhibition has been strategically positioned at the tail-end of 2011 to capture the convergence of the fundamental needs of both the exhibitors and visitors. Exhibitors will be offering handsome deals for their products and services to boost year-end sales while visitors will make the most of the attractive deals to spruce up their homes in time to usher in 2012.

It’s been an insanely fast-paced year in terms of technological innovations in the electronics and electrical world.

As such, it’s bound to be another tremendously exciting affair on all fronts as major brands such as Panasonic, LG, Sharp, Electrolux, Joven and LeBensstil continue to showcase every conceivable items one could possibly want or need in our homes as well as cutting-edge innovations of the year.

For those in search of bedding solutions, popular brands such as Napure, Tempur and SpringAir will leave everyone spoilt for choice.

“The home is where one pours in one’s heart and soul,” said the exhibition organiser CNM Events Marketing managing director Datuk Adriana Law.

A self-made entrepreneur, Law is no stranger to the joys and intricacies of home improvements as she currently splits her time between running a business and her new home that is undergoing massive renovations.

“The residential property sub-sector remains the main mover of the property market. Perfect Lifestyle’11 will have plenty in store for everyone,” said Valuation and Property Services Department director-general Datuk Abdullah Thalith Md Thani.

Apart from an assembly of top exhibitors, the organisers pack the shows with an avalanche of activities and goodies such as guaranteed gifts, exciting contests, door gifts, daily lucky draws and cooking demonstrations.

By The Star

High demand for industrial properties in Iskandar

JOHOR BARU: Property developers in Iskandar Malaysia have been urged to venture into industrial park projects due to a surge in demand for industrial properties here.

Johor executive councillor for international trade and industry Tan Kok Hong said it was timely for developers to focus on this segment apart from the residential properties area. “Johor is still strong in the manufacturing sector and it remains one of the top three destinations for foreign direct investments (FDIs) in the country,’’ he said.

Tan said this at the signing ceremony between Telekom Malaysia Bhd and UMLand Bhd’s subsidiary Dynasty View Sdn Bhd for the deployment and provision of TM’s high speed broadband (HSBB) network infrastructure and services.

Meanwhile, Newcastle University MedicineMalaysia was officially launched in EduCity Iskandar Malaysia yesterday. The 13.5-acre project is Newcastle University’s first overseas venture and is the only British Medical School recognised by the General Medical Council outside of the UK. The RM90mil campus marks the successful completion of Iskandar Investment Bhd’s first development project on the back of completed infrastructure works earlier in the year.

By The Star

Mah Sing inks MoU with Thailand's Central Pattana for potential JV

KUALA LUMPUR: Mah Sing Group Bhd today signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Central Pattana Public Co. Ltd, to jointly study the potential investment of developing and managing a one million sq ft retail mall, within Icon City in Petaling Jaya, through a joint venture and or partnership.

"We believe the potential joint venture with Central Pattana will add vibrancy and further uplift the overall appeal of Icon City with the latest in retail offerings and shopping experiences of world-class standards," said Mah Sing's Group Managing Director cum Group Chief Executive, Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum, in a statement today.

Icon City is Mah Sing's flagship integrated commercial project with an estimated gross development value of about RM3.2 billion.

The integrated development comprises shop offices, retail lots, small office versatile offices and serviced residences in Phase 1.

It also comprises the retail mall, hotel, serviced residences, boutique offices and corporate office towers in the second phase.

Central Pattana is Thailand's largest retail developer currently managing 16 shopping centres, six office buildings, two hotels and two residential projects.

By Bernama

Singapore home sales unlikely to beat last year’s record

SINGAPORE: Sales of new private homes may come close to last year's record high, but they are unlikely to surpass the figure, with global economic uncertainty affecting demand, according to experts.

Home sales for the first nine months of this year came in at a slightly more robust 12,301 units compared with 12,051 units in the same period last year.

However, experts said a slower final quarter was likely to leave the final figure below last year's tally. Developers sold a record-breaking 16,292 homes last year as rock-bottom interest rates and pent-up demand from first-timers and upgraders drove the property market to a new high.

Experts noted that low interest rates and a sound local economy should underpin private home buying demand.

However, the gloomy economic outlook has dampened market sentiment. Four rounds of cooling measures the latest in January have also removed the speculative froth.

Colliers International research and advisory director Chia Siew Chuin said the ongoing economic turmoil in the West would rein in demand to some extent. The year-end festive season and school holidays could also sideline potential buyers.

“Considering these factors, demand for new homes in the final three months of the year may come in slightly lower than that seen in the third quarter of this year,” Chia said. She expects the full-year sales volume to be between 15,000 and 16,000 units.

But Credo Real Estate research and consultancy head Ong Teck Hui noted that though cooling measures had cut demand from speculators and short-term investors, demand from genuine buyers had persisted. It was possible this year's total would be close to last year's, he added.

CB Richard Ellis Research executive director Li Hiaw Ho said the market had turned more cautious on the government's outlook of slower economic growth due to eurozone woes.

“It is unlikely that we will see the same level of take-up as the second and third quarter, even with prices remaining stable. While we expect new home sales volume this year to exceed 15,000 units, it remains to be seen whether it can surpass the record volume last year.”

Already, secondary market transactions had fallen considerably. The 3,604 units sold in the three months to Sept 30 was the lowest quarterly figure since the market recovery in mid-2009, Ong noted.

By Straits Times Singapore

Chinese home buyers not so easy to please

BEIJING: China thought it had a good plan: Bring down soaring house prices so millions of frustrated wage-earning families could afford new homes, and social harmony would follow.

However, furious protests by existing home-owners against price-cuts on new developments show that the road to real estate equilibrium is a rocky one.

For every aspiring home buyer in China thwarted by a speculative property bubble that has seen house prices in key cities jump nearly 10-fold in 10 years, an existing home-owner is anxious to see the biggest investment they're likely to ever make keep rising.

Anxiety built to anger in Shanghai on Oct 22 after Longfor Properties cut prices on the latest phase of a housing development to revive stalling sales at the site.

A mob of about 300 people smashed up the development's sales and demonstration centre, according to local media reports.

All had bought homes in earlier phases of the project at prices as much as 30% above current selling levels which Longfor insists just reflect market conditions.

“We decided the price according to market demand,” the company said in a statement emailed to Reuters. “The promotion, which ended on Oct 20, was an effective one when the company proactively grasped the right market opportunity.”

Hundreds of home-owners were on the same Shanghai street a day after the Longfor incident, staging a smaller protest in a Green Land Group development. There's been uproar at sites developed by China Overseas Land, Sino-Ocean Land and Huaye Real Estate Co.

Protests have flared in Beijing as well as Shanghai and threaten to spread. Social unrest is anathema for China's ruling Communist Party.

“The protests run an alarm to the public that gone is the time when home prices only rise and never fall. Investors need to be cautious,” the People's Daily, the top party newspaper, said in an opinion piece posted on its website on Oct 26.

Property is a touchstone issue in the world's second-biggest economy, generating around 10% of China's GDP.

Besides would-be buyers and profit-hungry developers, local governments across the country rely on income from land sales to service debts estimated at 10.7 trillion yuan (US$1.7 trillion) and fund construction of roads, railways and schools.

By Reuters

iProperty launches commercial property site

Region-wide cooling measures by the government on the residential property sector and the rising yield in the commercial sector has prompted the launch of CommercialAsia.com, the region’s first comprehensive website dedicated to commercial and industrial properties across Asia-Pacific.

The new website has the largest database of commercial and industrial property listings in the region with over 150,000 current listings, a figure expected to grow to over 500,000 by the end of 2012.

Spearheaded by The iProperty group, a leading Asian online property portal which reaches out to 3.5 million unique visitors and 25,000 real estate agents per month, the launch of CommercialAsia.com is timed in anticipation of the market trend.

Its chief executive officer, Shaun Di Gregorio said: "The iProperty Group’s data across Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia between 2010 and 2011 shows an upward trend in searches for commercial property."

With the government introducing cooling measures across Asia-Pacific and the fear of possible recession in the US and Europe and assumption of that impacting Asia-Pacific, the residential sector is softening as investors adopt a ‘wait-and-see approach, he said at the launch in Singapore.

By Bernama