Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by lovefoe

The slow but resilient luxury condo market in KL

lovefoe — Mon, 15 Aug 2016 14:31:50 +0800

Source from kopiandproperty Blog:
https://kopiandproperty.com/2016/08/11/slow...ondo-market-kl/

The slow but resilient luxury condo market in KL[SIZE=7]
AUGUST 11, 2016 ~ CHARLES

This particular news about KL condo scene, I think I got it from two first hand information. A friend related to me how tough it was to rent out her condo nearby KLCC because there were just too many competitions from the market, plus many newly completed ones too. Another friend who travels to China frequently, the CEO of 88home.co, Ms.Olivia Lim said, “Let’s put the luxury condo scene into the right perspective. When the buyers that we are trying to attract are from overseas, the prices per sq ft that we are talking about today still seem reasonable. What else with the rental yield in Malaysia is still high compares to most country in Asean” As per Knight Frank Malaysia in its Real Estate Highlights for H1 2016, it said that the market outlook for the high end condominium segment in KL is affected by current weak sentiment and both the potential buyers or even investors are adopting a “wait-and’see” attitude.

It (Knight Frank) also shared that there was now a widening gap between supply and demands well as mismatch in product pricing and affordability. This was one reason why developers have been much more innovative in their push for more sales. I just came back from a mall today and this was what the real estate negotiator told me when I was walking pass his booth. “Mr, this project is by X developer (pretty branded) and you get easy ‘ownership scheme package with support from financial institution. Times are really pretty bad OR that’s the remaining units after the handover of keys. Anyway, the project that was being pushed to me is an existing high-density one, nearby a MRT station.

Other things that Knight Frank Malaysia shared was this, “While the impending completion of the LRT extension line and Phase 1 of the ongoing Sungai Buloh-Kajang MRT line by end of 2016 will continue to promote more transit oriented developments (TODs) along the transportation routes, more developers are also looking to expand their land banks into the suburbs to offer a wider mix of affordable housing products that cater to the domestic market.” In brief, choices will increase and not reduce. Choose wisely please.

One positive thing it shared is that the property prices in Kuala Lumpur has remained resilient in most locations. It then shared what my friend shared a few months earlier. The rental market has lesser demand due to the slump in oil and gas and with more competitions, owners are much more open to lower rentals just to keep tenants. It shared some recent pricing levels for primary markets. The selling prices of high end condo / serviced apartments within the KL city ranges from RM1,300 – RM1,800 per sq ft while branded ones are above RM2,000per sq ft. Mont Kiara wise, the new ones are being launches at between RM800 to RM1,200 per sq ft.

Looking inside the city centre, there are some renewal projects worth some attention. Location such as adjacent to KL 118 which was formerly the Stadium Merdeka is reviving its glory years due to mega project development and the rail construction contract linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore is released. Potentially, KL is a destination of growth by 2020. While I think the HSR will benefit both countries but certainly any new connections between KL and Singapore would be a good story for the KL property market.

Anyway, my personal thoughts from this report by Knight Frank is that the market does not look too bad. Of course, one look at all the world business news would reveal that more retrenchments may be coming including one from an international bank as well as more from an international oil company. Well, I would prefer to think that for the Malaysian property market scene, as long as it does not get worse moving forward, it’s already considered positive. Any other thoughts? Or is the market totally different from what Knight Frank Malaysia has shared? Happy analysing.

written on 9 Aug 2016

Source from kopiandproperty Blog:
https://kopiandproperty.com/2016/08/11/slow...ondo-market-kl/

Why Chinese investors are warming up to Malaysia’s

lovefoe — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 21:57:07 +0800

Source: https://kopiandproperty.com/2016/07/13/chin...-love-malaysia/

Why Chinese investors are warming up to Malaysia’s property market
JULY 13, 2016 ~ CHARLES

The participation of Chinese developers, especially in Iskandar Malaysia is encouraging. In fact, their plans for Iskandar is nothing like what we have seen before. What about Chinese (China) investors? Are they also warming up to Malaysia’s property market? What do they like, where do they like and why do they buy? Let’s learn from someone who is managing a property portal dedicated to showcasing Malaysian properties beyond just Malaysia, with China as its current main focus. We speak to Ms.Olivia Lim, Chief Executive Officer for 88home.co

Is is true that property markets in China, especially the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are facing an oversupply of homes?

Based on various research reports in the market, the demand for the housing in Tier 2 and Tier 3 city in China is still strong and the pricing is holding well. What China is facing today is more of quality issues of old properties which was built more than 10 years ago is not picking up good pricing and infrastructure issues at certain locations. Other than that, China is a rosy market with unlimited domestic demands. All new launches are still experiencing long queue for registration or bidding which you will not see in other part of the world today.

Chinese (China) buyers are the biggest group buying Australian properties, for example those in Melbourne. Why are their main reasons for buying Australia?

The modern Chinese families of today are sending their children for further education abroad as they believe that there are much more to learn outside the world than just within China. They strongly believe that the younger generations require more exposure and knowledge in order for them to be competitive when they finish their education abroad. Education is close to the heart of Chinese families.

Looking in general context, an ordinary apartment in Tier 3 City in China will cost them an average of RMB 5 million, hence buying a house in Australia is not costing them a lot of money comparative to their income level. Moreover, the Asian culture meant preference to own the property for family members instead of renting since they need to use it for medium to long term.

I would say that the Chinese purchasing power is higher today and their currency is strong enough to allow them to invest in Australia. Australia is a preferred destination because it is an education hub, it has a stable currency, affordability, clean and well managed streets and safe place to have a holiday home. Another primary reason is the availability of significant Asian population living in Australia today for the past 4 decades. This has convinced the Mainland Chinese that living in Australia is easy.

Are these Chinese investors starting to focus their attention at the Malaysian property market? Why are they interested?

Yes, China is a very huge country with 1.38 billion population now. When we take just a fraction of the population, it is huge. Many of these wealthy Chinese may have interest to live in Malaysia due to the existence of Chinese culture for generations, geographical proximity and even the pleasant climate.

In the Northern area of China such as Beijing, Shenyang, Harbin, Shanxi and Hernan, the investors are always looking forward to have a nice holiday home in Malaysia for their elderly during winter time. In China, the weather is very extreme during the winter season, hence owning a house in a vibrant city such as Kuala Lumpur and Penang with lots of food and interesting activities will entice them to enjoy their holiday here. Hence the need for a holiday home.

Besides this, the fast growing education hub in Petaling Jaya, Cyberjaya and Damansara is also another pull factor for the Mainland Chinese to own properties at the said location.

On the other side of Southern China such as Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Shantao investors are looking forward to own properties in Malaysia because they view it as an investment and business opportunity. The pricing and freehold / leasehold title of 99 year is something very attractive to them living in Malaysia is considered extremely similar to them as most Malaysian Chinese are decedents from Southern China making it easier for them to do start up businesses too.

Another advantage is that the distance between Southern China and Malaysia is less than 5 hours by flight. This is considered short distance for the mainland Chinese especially when compared to them flying from the southern part to the northern part just within China itself. Hence, Malaysia is a close destination to them.

Are there any specific cities in Malaysia which they love? If it’s for investment purpose, which are the 3 cities in Malaysia that they would start first?

I would say Johor ranks no. 1 for the Mainland Chinese to invest in view of its location right next to Singapore and the Johor Government which is taking many steps to encourage new investments.

Kuala Lumpur is ranked no 2 in view of the robust business activities and availability of resources for them to carry out new start-ups. Selangor would complete the top 3 ranking due to the availability of education HUB strategically located in this state.

Chinese from mainland China aside, I would say Penang is top ranked for Hong Kong people due to similarities of the sea front properties and density lifestyle. Of course, I must also add that Penang properties are also by far more attractive where pricing is concerned compared to Hong Kong today.

Do you think Malaysian developers are doing enough to attract these Chinese buyers?

Malaysian developers from all the other states except for Johor has not been able to do much because of the lacking of government support in various approval processes and restriction on ownership of properties by foreigners especially in Selangor state and restriction of quota in Negeri Sembilan. The Real Estate Housing Developers Association (REHDA) has already voiced out on numerous occasions on the lack of support but the government is not aligned to the need of property developers.

Hence, property developers are restricted by what they are able to do due to the policies of the state or federal government. I personally believe that for more investments to come in, the state government and federal government may have to pay more attention to the requests from Rehda so that the building industry is able to progress. As we are aware the building industry constitutes approximately 20% of the GDP growth of Malaysia. By restricting the ability of the property developers to sell to foreigners for specific projects or locations this will in turn start a vicious cycle to the entire supply chain and industry.

The other reason that I say Malaysian developers are not doing enough to attract China investors is that they are not moving in the right direction to market their assets to China investors. Besides, they do not have experience in terms of human capital and resources. One major casein point is their inability to handle the language and inquires from the investors in a convincing manner. If they need to start today, they need time to restructure their workforce. The typical planning to implementation stage will take nothing less than half a year to have everything to work out in an orderly manner.

About 88home.co.

88home88home.co is a property portal dedicated to showcasing Malaysian properties beyond just Malaysia, with China as its current main focus. Discover the best way to find properties for sales & rent in Malaysia with 88Home, Malaysia’s Fastest Growing Property Portal. We are offering a new way of doing property search with our user-friendly and user-centric portal as well as authentic search result.

Contacts:
Website : http://www.88home.co
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/88homeco

Source: https://kopiandproperty.com/2016/07/13/chin...-love-malaysia/

WTS: Used DLink Switch, Linksys KVM Switch, 3COM S

lovefoe — Sun, 29 Mar 2015 14:49:19 +0800

Item(s):

1) Linksys ProConnect 4-Station KVM Switch SView04
2) 3COM OfficeConnect Dual Speed Switch 16
3) DLink DES-1024D 10/100 Fast Ethernet Switch 24 Ports
4) 3COM OfficeConnect Eternet Hub 8

Package includes: Switches and Adapters

Price:

1) Linksys ProConnect 4-Station KVM Switch SView04 -RM100
2) 3COM OfficeConnect Dual Speed Switch 16 - RM100
3) DLink DES-1024D 10/100 Fast Ethernet Switch 24 Ports - RM100
4) 3COM OfficeConnect Eternet Hub 8 - RM 70

Warranty: Expired, Money back in 1 week for faulty unit

Dealing method: COD PJ Damansara Area

Location of seller: PJ Damansara

Contact method/details: PM

Item(s) conditions: Working

Reason for sale: Not using. Upgraded.

Pictures:

1) Linksys ProConnect 4-Station KVM Switch SView04 -RM100
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2) 3COM OfficeConnect Dual Speed Switch 16 - RM100
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3) DLink DES-1024D 10/100 Fast Ethernet Switch 24 Ports - RM100
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4) 3COM OfficeConnect Eternet Hub 8 - RM 70
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