Get Daily Property News in Malaysia, News Powered by PropertyGuru Malaysia
June 3, 2015
The slowing Malaysian property market provides developers with a good opportunity to acquire land banks for future development, revealed a Savills report.
In its Q1 Asia-Pacific Investment Quarterly report, Savills noted how all attention in Malaysia this year will be focused on witnessing the impact of the six percent goods and services tax (GST), which took effect in April, on the property market.
Although residential properties are GST exempt, property developers will still have to consider taxed goods and services such as raw materials, which in turn will affect property prices.
Notably, Savills expect the residential sector to remain depressed for most of 2015, given the growing difficulties faced by home buyers to secure a housing loan as well as the potential lending rate revision this year.
“However, we anticipate there might be some relaxation of current restrictions on lending policies in the near future, which would see the market perk up in early 2016,” it said.
In fact, the commercial property sector was active in Q1 2015.
In January, Tropicana Corporation Bhd announced the sale of Tropicana City Mall and a 12-storey office tower in Petaling Jaya to CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust for RM540 million.
In Kuala Lumpur, the Integra Tower was sold for RM1.065 billion by Blackrock Inc. to Retirement Fund Incorporated (KWAP), while the 33-year old Plaza Pekeliling office tower was sold for RM28.28 million.
Savills noted that the demolition or conversion of old and/or underperforming office buildings in Kuala Lumpur has been frequent during the last couple of years, as illustrated by the potential conversion of a portion of Menara ING, which was sold in December 2014, into a hotel.
Meanwhile, the development of major infrastructure projects within Greater Kuala Lumpur is expected to drive up residential property prices as well as boost footfall for shopping malls situated along LRT and MRT lines.
“Well-located development land is still highly sought after, with tenders for both the German and French embassy parcels in Kuala Lumpur city centre having closed in this quarter and currently being finalised,” said the report.
“Developers are also taking the opportunity to expand their land banks on the fringes of Greater KL, with 62 acres in Semenyih sold for RM95 million, and 237 acres in Dengkil sold for close to RM230 million.”
Over in Penang, a 53-acre piece of land in Georgetown was sold for RM150 million, while a 21-acre parcel in Seberang Perai was sold for almost RM20 million.
Overall, Savills expects 2015 to be a challenging year for the property market.
“However, the current slowdown in the market marks a good time for acquisition activities, particularly with Malaysian institutions focusing more on the local market in recent months, which will keep the market momentum going in 2015.”
Farah Wahida, Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact her about this or other stories email farahwahida@propertyguru.com.my
No comments:
Post a Comment