4th Floor, Jalan Logan Desa Samudera, Penang
Floor area : 1,110sf
Reserve Price : RM320,000
Monday, April 20, 2009
Upcoming April auction
36th Floor, Gurney Park, Persiaran Gurney, 10250 Penang
Floor Area : app 856sf
Reserve Price : RM320,000
Investment analysis : Rental per month app. RM2,000 to RM2,500 per month (depends on
condition and furniture provided)
If based on RM2,000 per month - annual rent is RM24,000
Therefore RM24,000 / RM320,000 * 100% = 7.5% (Gross Rental)
Monday, April 13, 2009
More properties under receivership this year
PETALING JAYA: Auctioneers are seeing an increasing trend of properties under receivership this year, as more owners are expected to have financial difficulty amid the continuing global financial crisis.
They said the overall supply of auction properties in the last few months had already risen by 10% to 20% compared with normal times.
Property Auction House Sdn Bhd general manager Danny Loh said medium and low-cost houses were hit the hardest.
“The number of (auction) cases for medium-cost apartments costing RM50,000 to RM150,000 has risen by 15%, while for high-end condominiums it is up by 10%. For offices the figure is up by 20%,” he told StarBiz.
He said landed properties had the smallest increase of 5% and they were saleable.
Loh handles about 100 auctioning cases per month in the Klang Valley.
He estimated the number of bidders had also dropped by 30% because banks were more stringent on financing and buyers were careful about buying big-ticket items.
He said about 60% of bidders were investors, while the remaining were buying for their own use. Both categories were equally split during normal times.
Another auctioneer told StarBiz that her company’s auctioning activities had risen from about five cases a month before the economic crisis to between five and 10 cases now.
She said properties under auction were usually priced 20% below the market value.
In the auctioning process, bidders are required to deposit 5% or 10% of the property value. In the first auction, the property price is based on the current market value. Subsequently, the price will be reduced by 10%, and another 10% in the third auction. She said the current trend was that bidders wait for the third auction.
Successful bidders would have 120 days to settle the difference between the deposit and the final price.
J. Thilagamraj Auctioneers Sdn Bhd legal manager Nithiyawathi Subramanium, who saw a 20% jump in properties under receivership over the last two months, said demand for auction properties remained the same.
She said most of the buyers were investors, particularly real estate agencies.
“They buy for investment,” she said, pointing out that agencies would recondition purchased properties for resale or rental.
She observed that more properties in Petaling jaya, Rawang and Shah Alam were coming into the auctioning market.
Source : The Star
Tuesday April 14, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Attractive offers to turn around mortgage business
BUYING a property and getting a housing loan to finance it is a major commitment for most consumers, as they need to ensure that they can sustain the payments over the next 15 to 30 years.
It does not help that the current economic downturn is putting more pressure on consumers’ job stability, finances, and confidence resulting in most consumers putting off making such huge investments.
Bank Negara statistics seem to reflect the weaker consumer sentiment, with the mortgage segment experiencing an 8% decline in loans approved in January versus December last year.
Nevertheless, the recent reduction in banks’ base lending rate (BLR) to 5.55% per annum, as well as attractive promotions and packages offered by developers and banks, have raised some hopes that the tide will turn somewhat for the mortgage business.
OCBC Bank (M) Bhd head of secured lending Thoo Mee Ling says although OCBC’s mortgage business was reflective of the industry’s in January, the bank’s monthly loans applications rose markedly by 27% in February compared with the previous month, with monthly loans approved increasing by 35%.
“Indications are that the decline in BLR has indeed helped to bring in more business as suggested by the increase in loan applications and approvals last month.
“However, these are still early days, and we will need to monitor trends over a longer period to adequately assess the impact that the BLR revision has had on the business,” Thoo says.
Banks have reduced their BLR and base financing rate to 5.55% per annum recently, following Bank Negara’s cut in its overnight policy rate to 2% effective March 1.
Thoo believes that perks and incentives to make loans more attractive are often only short-term measures to stimulate the business.
“In the long run, we believe that we should further attune ourselves to meeting customers’ needs through tailor-made products and services that meet their specific requirements. We have a range of innovative products that cater to the various, complex, needs of individuals,” she says.
For example, OCBC’s HomeXtra package provides additional financing of up to 100% the loan amount for customers to meet their financial commitments.
In addition, the bank’s LVS (legal, valuation and stamping fees) financing package allows customers to finance their entry costs, and at the same time enjoy lower interest rates. Entry costs represent legal fees, valuation fees and stamp duty on loan documentation incurred when the customer wishes to finance his or her housing loan.
“Traditionally, customers prefer the fees-absorbed-by-the-bank packages, whereby they do not need to pay any entry fees; and this is despite the fact that such packages tend to be made available at slightly higher interest rates.
“Still, with the recent introduction of the LVS package, we see a shift taking place – where lower interest rates are being valued more than other attractive fee-related benefits,” Thoo says.
CIMB Bank expects to see a decline in the number of new loans booked as consumers adopt a wait and see attitude, and is projecting a lower target for 2009.
Head of retail banking Peter England is optimistic the bank’s mortgage business will grow at least 13% this year. CIMB Bank’s mortgage business grew over 25% last year versus 2007.
“The lower BLR is very attractive for people looking to buy properties. It is probably one of the lowest rates for the past few years,” he points out.
CIMB Bank recently rolled out its Islamic Flexi Home Financing-i, which is linked to a special current account to enable customers to offset their outstanding principal with deposits.
England says the home loan has contributed significantly to the growth in the bank’s mortgage sales, with RM200mil sold in the first month after the launch.
“We are looking at rolling out another innovative product in the second quarter that will further strengthen our market share in Islamic property financing,” England says.
At present, one-third of the total mortgage facilities booked by customers come from CIMB Islamic’s range of products.
TA Securities senior analyst Wong Li Hsia notes that banks are still keen on loans growth and are very competitive especially in the mortgage segment.
“To grow loans, banks tend to focus on two main areas - mortgage and loans to small and medium enterprises. The lower BLR could help to encourage borrowing,” she says.
Wong expects mortgage loans to grow at a slower pace this year, as demand drops and banks are more cautious about who they lend to. “We are looking at a low single digit growth for mortgage this year,” she adds.
Source : The Star
Saturday March 21, 2009
It does not help that the current economic downturn is putting more pressure on consumers’ job stability, finances, and confidence resulting in most consumers putting off making such huge investments.
Bank Negara statistics seem to reflect the weaker consumer sentiment, with the mortgage segment experiencing an 8% decline in loans approved in January versus December last year.
Nevertheless, the recent reduction in banks’ base lending rate (BLR) to 5.55% per annum, as well as attractive promotions and packages offered by developers and banks, have raised some hopes that the tide will turn somewhat for the mortgage business.
OCBC Bank (M) Bhd head of secured lending Thoo Mee Ling says although OCBC’s mortgage business was reflective of the industry’s in January, the bank’s monthly loans applications rose markedly by 27% in February compared with the previous month, with monthly loans approved increasing by 35%.
“Indications are that the decline in BLR has indeed helped to bring in more business as suggested by the increase in loan applications and approvals last month.
“However, these are still early days, and we will need to monitor trends over a longer period to adequately assess the impact that the BLR revision has had on the business,” Thoo says.
Banks have reduced their BLR and base financing rate to 5.55% per annum recently, following Bank Negara’s cut in its overnight policy rate to 2% effective March 1.
Thoo believes that perks and incentives to make loans more attractive are often only short-term measures to stimulate the business.
“In the long run, we believe that we should further attune ourselves to meeting customers’ needs through tailor-made products and services that meet their specific requirements. We have a range of innovative products that cater to the various, complex, needs of individuals,” she says.
For example, OCBC’s HomeXtra package provides additional financing of up to 100% the loan amount for customers to meet their financial commitments.
In addition, the bank’s LVS (legal, valuation and stamping fees) financing package allows customers to finance their entry costs, and at the same time enjoy lower interest rates. Entry costs represent legal fees, valuation fees and stamp duty on loan documentation incurred when the customer wishes to finance his or her housing loan.
“Traditionally, customers prefer the fees-absorbed-by-the-bank packages, whereby they do not need to pay any entry fees; and this is despite the fact that such packages tend to be made available at slightly higher interest rates.
“Still, with the recent introduction of the LVS package, we see a shift taking place – where lower interest rates are being valued more than other attractive fee-related benefits,” Thoo says.
CIMB Bank expects to see a decline in the number of new loans booked as consumers adopt a wait and see attitude, and is projecting a lower target for 2009.
Head of retail banking Peter England is optimistic the bank’s mortgage business will grow at least 13% this year. CIMB Bank’s mortgage business grew over 25% last year versus 2007.
“The lower BLR is very attractive for people looking to buy properties. It is probably one of the lowest rates for the past few years,” he points out.
CIMB Bank recently rolled out its Islamic Flexi Home Financing-i, which is linked to a special current account to enable customers to offset their outstanding principal with deposits.
England says the home loan has contributed significantly to the growth in the bank’s mortgage sales, with RM200mil sold in the first month after the launch.
“We are looking at rolling out another innovative product in the second quarter that will further strengthen our market share in Islamic property financing,” England says.
At present, one-third of the total mortgage facilities booked by customers come from CIMB Islamic’s range of products.
TA Securities senior analyst Wong Li Hsia notes that banks are still keen on loans growth and are very competitive especially in the mortgage segment.
“To grow loans, banks tend to focus on two main areas - mortgage and loans to small and medium enterprises. The lower BLR could help to encourage borrowing,” she says.
Wong expects mortgage loans to grow at a slower pace this year, as demand drops and banks are more cautious about who they lend to. “We are looking at a low single digit growth for mortgage this year,” she adds.
Source : The Star
Saturday March 21, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Depreciating high-end condos
Property prices in KLCC and Mont’Kiara areas could stabilise if economy recovers
PETALING JAYA: Property values of high-end condominiums in Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) and Mont’Kiara are expected to retrace by up to 20% to 2006 levels by the first half of next year, according to Kenanga Research.
The average capital values of KLCC and Mont’Kiara in 2006 were RM943 and RM466 per sq ft respectively, compared with RM1,128 and RM564 psf respectively currently. If the Kenanga Research projection is right, this would mean the luxury residential segment in these prime locations could fall by as much as 16% to 20% over the next year, on top of a 6% to 10% depreciation since their peak.
Average prices in KLCC peaked at RM1,291 psf in the first half of last year; for Mont’Kiara it was at RM598 psf in 2007.
However, the research house in its report on Monday said property prices in these locations could stabilise if the economy recovered earlier and/or investors had strong holding power.
The research house also expected selling pressure to accelerate when an additional 11,000 condominium units are completed in the next two years, with 60% of these units in the KLCC area.
The research house also expected selling pressure to accelerate when an additional 11,000 condominium units are completed in the next two years, with 60% of these units in the KLCC area.
It should be noted that the number of people putting up their properties for sale should not be used as a measure of actual transactions.
“With the rental opportunities and capital values in a downtrend, property investors will be pressured to unlock their cash to fund other investments,” it said.
Khong & Jaafar Sdn Bhd managing director Elvin Fernandez said due to the economic downturn, property values at Mont’Kiara and KLCC could return to levels that may be sustained by rental returns.
“How low they will go and whether they will overshoot on the downside will depend on the severity of the downturn, going forward,” he told StarBiz in an e-mail.
Fernandez noted that prices in these locations had appreciated steeply between 2005 and 2007, and to sustain these high prices, the rentals had gone up in tandem.
“But there was a constraint in the charging of rentals simply because the expatriate community was not about to pay or couldn’t afford such rentals,” he said.
OSK Research analyst Mervin Chow expected at least a 20% downside risk and prices to bottom in 2010.
“About 30% and 40% downside (in property value) is a reasonable expectation,” he told StarBiz.
He said KLCC and Mont’Kiara condominium prices had already come off by 10% to 20% since late last year. Some properties in these areas, however, still enjoy capital values close to their peaks last year.
Source : The Star
Wednesday March 18, 2009
COMING APRIL AUCTION 2009 - PENANG
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RESERVE PRICE : RM534,600.00
PROPERTY TYPE : 3 STOREY DETACHED HOUSE
Lintang Tanjung Indah 1, Taman Tanjung Indah,
12300 Butterworth, Seberang Perai Utara
LAND AREA : app 4,984sf
COMING APRIL AUCTION 2009 - PENANG
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RESERVE PRICE : RM 35,000.00PROPERTY TYPE : A SINGLE STOREY CORNER TERRACED HOUSE
LAND AREA : app. 2,100sf
LORONG BIDARA 23, TAMAN BIDARA,
JALAN GAJAH MATI, 14020 BUKIT MERTAJAM, PENANG.
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