Property Hunter Magazine Property Hunter Magazine Issue 53 - April 2014 | Page 77

Good Response to MIEA Registration of Negotiators trained since October 2013,” said Siva Shanker, the president of the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA). Siva Shanker, the president of the Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) He was speaking to the 28th Malaysian Annual Real Estate Convention (Marec) 2014. Held over the weekend, the convention was titled “Innovative Solutions in a Challenging Market — Ideas That Work”. The recent registration of real estate negotiators, which has been under way since October last year, has yielded 11,000 registrants. “In the past couple of months, there have been many changes in the real estate landscape,” said Lim Boon Ping, the convention chairman, in his opening speech. “To date, we have conducted over 40 classes held across 10 locations nationwide ... Nearly 11,000 negotiatiors have been Based on research by PPC International Sdn Bhd, a total of RM142.84 billion was transacted in the real estate industry in 2012. Approximately 60% of the transactions (RM85 billion) were made in the secondary market. Hence, MIEA hopes the organisation will be able to play a more active role in the future. “We hope ministers and policymakers will consider engaging us prior to any major policy changes which may affect us,” said Soma Sundram, past president of MIEA. MIEA will spend RM1 million this year to create more public awareness about the importance of dealing with registered estate agents. Later this year, MIEA will issue tags with QR codes to all its members. Customers will be able to scan the QR codes with their smartphones and access the agent’s professional information. RM1 Million Per Unit Minimum Threshold for Property Acquisition by Foreign Interests Kicks in 1st of March 2014 properties valued at less than RM1 million per unit, especially residential units. A foreign interest in Mal