Property Hunter Magazine September Issue 2014 | Page 50

/// East Malaysia Property News

Malaysia’s Residential Property Sector Enters
Cooling Phase

Hong Kong’s R&F Properties to Unveil
Johor Project

Set to be a landmark property
development in Tanjung
Puteri, Johor, phase one of
R&F Princess Cove will see
the construction of about 15
blocks of luxury apartments
by Hong Kong-based R&F
Properties Co Ltd.
The residential property segment, a subsector of the overall property market,
appears to have entered “a cooling
phase” in the first two quarters with
sales expected to stay “moderate” for
the coming third quarter, according
to the Malaysian Institute of Economic
Research (MIER).
“The macro-prudential measures
implemented by Bank Negara to cool
down the property market since 2010
look likely to have played a role here,”
MIER said.
MIER based its conclusion after doing a
residential property survey designed to
be an indicator of economic activity in
the property sector.
Its Residential Property Index fell for the
second quarter to 109.9 points, slipping
1.3 points from the first quarter, and
28.3 points from a year ago.
The survey also showed that total
unsold new residential properties have
accumulated faster than sales in recent
months.
More than a quarter of house builders
reported bigger stocks in hand, which is
at a three-year high.
The MIER report said that given the
built-up in total unsold new unit s, those
surveyed have decided to keep creeping
prices at bay by maintaining them at
current levels.

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But in the months ahead, prices “are
likely to escalate again” more than half of
those surveyed said while the remainder
said they will “neither raise nor slash
theirs (their prices) for now.”
Fewer of them increased prices in the
second quarter compared with the first
and some even offered price cuts, the
survey found.
Moving forward, about half of those
surveyed expect sales for the current
third quarter to remain the same while
more than a third of those surveyed
foresee higher sales as “home buyers
bought ahead of the Goods and Services
Tax” which will come into effect next
April.
Property prices are envisaged to rise due
to higher input costs after that.
Double-storey houses continued to
be the most popular while none of
those surveyed seem to have sold any
bungalows during this same period.
The survey concluded that affordability
issues may continue to haunt the market
if property prices outpaced income
growth and interest rates edged up.
“Housing demand may eventually lose
ground,” MIER said.

R&F Properties had bought
the 116 acres of land at RM4.5
billion in a deal involving the
Johor royalty late last year.
On a per-sq-ft basis, the prime
land values at more than
RM890, making it the second
most highly priced land in the
city, trailing closely behind
another China-based firm that
had bought 37 acres of land in
Danga Bay for RM991 per sq ft.
The whole R&F Princess
Cove project would unveil
an enormous integrated
development in line with the
current trend in Johor that
has attracted streams of
Chinese developers into the
new growth area adjacent to
Singapore.

Part of phase one ready to be
booked in July would comprise
400 units of apartments built
on four blocks of 30 – 35
storeys. The company plans
to develop 15 blocks of
apartments in phase one.
Recent launches in Nusajaya,
Medini, Danga Bay and Johor
Baru showed that prices were
in the range of RM600 to
RM1,000 per sq ft, with prime
units fetching RM1,500 per
sq ft.
R&F Properties, listed on the
Hong Kong stock exchange,
has a series of iconic
developments on its portfolio,
mostly in China, and Malaysia
would be its first foreign
project.
The company, with over
20 years of experience in
property development, has
been involved in the building
of classical bungalows, grade-A
office towers and five-star
hotels.

Investors are betting on
the economic development
spurred by the establishment
of Iskandar Malaysia and the
upcoming rapid transit system
between Johor Baru and
Singapore.
Checks with the company
revealed that the launching of
phase 1 is slated for mid-July,
while the sales gallery would be
ready for a big-splash opening
this Saturday.

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