32 Business Property THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 8- 14, 2013
32 Business Property THE MYANMAR TIMES JULY 8- 14, 2013
No end in sight to property boom
Realtor warns of looming political disaster as more and more Yangon city residents are priced out of the market by surging prices
MYAT NYEIN AYE
myatnyeinaye11092 @ gmail. com
REALTORS see no end in sight for surging property prices in Yangon, with some warning that the number of city residents being prices out of the market is getting dangerously high.
Ko Htun Htun, the owner of Phoenix real estate agency, said he saw no signs of cooling in the market despite a two-year surge in prices that has seen properties in one township increase fourfold.
“ Yangon’ s real estate market had been rising for at least the past two years,” he said.“ Demand and prices in the outer suburbs are particularly strong, with a number of infrastructure and development projects boosting interest in those areas.”
He added that land in South Okkalapa township is in huge demand.
“ Prices in South Okkalapa are rising fast and more people want to own a house there. Prices of plots in the township have increased by 400 percent in 24 months. Prices in other
Luxury projects like the Strand Condominium, above, are appearing across the city, pricing most residents out of the market. Photo: Staff
townships are not rising as fast as they are in South Okkalapa, but I can’ t think of a single area where prices have fallen.” Ko Htun Htun gave the example of a 2400-square-foot property in South Okkalapa that was bought in June for K950 million and resold in early July for K1.25 billion. However, Ko Min Min Soe, a spokesperson for realtor Mya
400 %
Rise in prices of homes in South Okkalapa township over the past two years
Pan Thakhin, said the higher prices were fuelled by speculators flipping properties quickly.
He added that speculators had the capacity to disrupt the markets and damage ordinary buyers. Ko Min Min Soe said the doubling of prices for houses in some areas, such as East Dagon, had priced prospective buyers out of the market and left them reliant on renting.
Daw Moh Moh Aung, general secretary of the Myanmar Real Estate Service Association, said rising prices were a potential political disaster for the government.
“ If land prices rise continuously, where are ordinary people going to live in Yangon? They will sell their houses because the price is attractive, but then they will not have enough money to buy another place to live,” she said.
HONG KONG
Builders slow home sales to keep prices from falling
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HONG KONG builders will put the breaks on home sales for the rest of the year after government curbs to rein in prices sapped demand, according to Bocom International Holdings and Centaline Property Agency.
Builders including Sun Hung Kai Properties and Cheung Kong Holdings sold about 4,320 new units for HK $ 40 billion( US $ 5.2 billion) in the first half, both the lowest since the second half of 2008, according to figures compiled by realtor Centaline. A total of 7,183 units were sold for HK $ 66 billion in the second half of 2012, Centaline said.
Developers are holding off sales after property transactions in the city plunged to a two-decade low in the second quarter in response to a doubling of stamp duties on buyers and sellers, and tightened regulations on
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marketing material of new apartments.
Home prices have dropped 2 percent from a historic high in March, after having more than doubled since early 2009.
“ The pace of sales will remain slow unless there’ s something encouraging developers to turn over assets faster,” said Alfred Lau, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Bocom International. They have“ little incentive to sell at a time when the market’ s down”.
Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, in February, doubled the stamp duty on properties costing more than HK $ 2 million and targeted commercial real estate.
Since taking office a year ago, he also has imposed taxes on non-resident homebuyers and pledged to increase
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housing supply to bring prices down to more affordable levels.
Concerns that more curbs will be introduced and expectations that interest rates will begin rising may send home prices down as much as 10pc in the second half, according to Midland Holdings.
Total property transactions in the second quarter fell 42pc from the previous quarter to 14,291, the lowest since at least 1991, when Midland began keeping quarterly records.
The government will not ease the curbs until there is a steady supply of new properties, Mr Leung said. Financial Secretary John Tsang said the city may introduce more curbs if needed.
“ Government measures are stifling new apartment sales,” Wong Leungsing, associate director of research at
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Centaline, said.“ Developers are very cautious, and at the same time many of them are unwilling to cut prices to boost sales.”
The government in April introduced new rules aimed at making new apartment sales more transparent. They include requiring developers to update sales records more regularly and to list properties by apartment size excluding shared space.
“ Developers will need time to get used to the new rules,” said Buggle Lau, chief analyst at Midland.“ They may bring the pace of sales slightly up in the second half, but we probably won’ t see things back to the way it once was.”
The government needs to lower premiums charged either on farmland bought by developers with the aim of
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converting it to residential use, or on projects sold atop railway stations, to encourage developers to accelerate sales, said Bocom’ s Mr Lau.
Mr Leung has sped up approval of developers’ home sales applications to make more new units available to buyers, while also allowing developers to begin selling apartments sooner before construction is scheduled for completion.
Hong Kong’ s home prices have more than doubled since early 2009 on near record-low interest rates, a lack of new housing supply and an influx of mainland Chinese buyers.
“ All the measures to curb activities are negating whatever the government’ s trying to do to accelerate sales,” Mr Wong said.“ They’ ll need to figure out a different way.” – Bloomberg
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TRADE MARK CAUTION
AVERNA INTERNATIONAL S. A of 8, Boulevard Joseph II, Luxembourg, and FRATELLI AVERNA, Via Xiboli 345, Caltanissetta, Italy, are merger, Owners and Sole Proprietors of the following Trade Mark:
AVERNA Reg. No. IV / 1673 / 2004 Reg. No. IV / 1663 / 2007 Reg. No. IV / 1954 / 2010 Reg. No. IV / 4095 / 2013 Reg. No. IV / 4096 / 2013
in respect of“ Wines, spirits and liquors in Int’ l Class 33”.
Any fraudulent imitation or unauthorized use of the said Trade Mark or other infringements whatsoever will be dealt with according to law.
Khine Khine U, Advocate LL. B, D. B. L, LL. M( UK) For AVERNA INTERNATIONAL S. A and FRATELLI AVERNA 205 / 5, Thirimingalar Hous; Strand Rd., Yangon. Dated. July 8, 2013
TRADE MARK CAUTION
Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc., of 8510 Colonnade Center Drive, Raleigh, North Carolina 27615, United States of America, is the Owner of the following Trade Mark:- RELISTOR Reg. No. 5310 / 2006
in respect of“ Pharmaceutical preparations, namely, a drug to reverse and treat the side effects of opioids”.
WARNING is hereby given that any fraudulent imitation or unauthorised use of the said Trade Mark in any manner whatsoever will be dealt with according to law.
Win Mu Tin, M. A., H. G. P., D. B. L for Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. P. O. Box 60, Yangon E-mail: makhinkyi. law @ mptmail. net. mm Dated: 8 July 2013