it is not difficult to see some shifts in prop activity in the last year or so:

1 much fewer landed houses projects launched - they are either high end large houses or located in very very new areas (with promises of course)
2 then condos averaging 350-450psfpsf, considered cheap, rush rush buy buy
3 latest now pigeonholes 400sft, 650sqft comercial titles disguised as homes under or sovos (maybe later somo, small opis macam-macam opis) - averaging 400-600psf. entry price 200-300k, everybody say cheap, buy now. doesn't matter where it is or why will support it or what you do with it if not livign there. latest ones in seri kembangan, serdang, nilai, shah alam, cyberjaya, kajang - traditonally houses areas
4 many big time seasoned prop investors have stopped buying but start to sell, vacuum now filled by late, younger comers hungry and ready (some helped by parents)

to me there are 2 questions now in the next 2-3 years:
. we know inflation is going to be bad; if it is so bad, will people then still buy new homes at exorbitant prices or give up the idea?
. will people be willing to pay RM2k or so to rent a soho-sovo pigeon hole in some of those places?

no one knows where all this is going but one thing for sure - as prices rise and mediocre or poor locations become perceived hot sopts (helped by colorful artist impressions and heavily id'ed showunits), the risks have increased dramtically whether you can see it or not.

I don't see why people don't buy home for themselves or their families. If you know inflation is getting bad over the years, why not to get one now? otherwise you will pay more due to decrease of purchasing powers.

You got two options, first is to rent a property/room; 2nd is to purchase one for your own. I believe rental is also increase for mass housing property; example those 2sty houses in PJ now fetch not below 1800per month (4 or 5 rooms). those 2sty landed property in new areas also not cheaper than 1,200 per month.

for average high-rise unit, rental could be in the range of 800 to 1,200 per month (average 3 bedrooms).

if you do not buy now for your own-stayed, then be ready to rent a unit for you and your family. if you're getting marry, believe it is not so ideal for you to just rent a room, right?

maybe third option - to stay with your parents

This post has been edited by kh8668: Jul 17 2011, 01:00 PM

from iproperty.. i can see the prop market like stock market already... today increase 5k... after few days decrease 5k... and following days increase 5k again... and so..

iproperty website listing price is always on high side compared to other listing. dunno why..

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Added on July 17, 2011, 1:23 pmBy ANGIE NG
angie@thestar.com.my | Jul 16, 2011

More green buildings needed

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WHILE green solutions have long been adapted by property industry practitioners in the United States, Europe and Australia, it is still at an early stage in Malaysia.

According to the Eastern Regional Organisation for Planning and Human Settlement (EAROPH) Malaysia honorary secretary, S Thirilogachandran, although there are lots of initiatives and programmes to promote greater green awareness and practices locally, there is still a need for more practical solutions to be adapted among the property development fraternity.

Building by-laws or other building legislation need to be made mandatory for developers to provide green features in their developments.

He says the Government should also come out with more incentives and policies to encourage more developers to adopt green solutions.

“The Government through the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry is also looking into promoting green practices by providing guidelines, framework and the policies.

“Initiatives such as offering tax benefit for green solutions in buildings are also in place. Soon, certain green requirements to be incorporated in buildings will be made mandatory by law. But there is still a lot to be done,” Thirilogachandran explains.

He says the number of green buildings and green neighbourhoods in the country is still very small, and hopefully in the next five years more green buildings and townships (that are under planning) will be completed by then.

Thirilogachandran says following the launch of the Green Building Index (GBI) in 2009 to rate green buildings, there is now greater awareness on green solutions among developers in the country and more developers are taking initiatives to adapt green practices and solutions in their developments.

To date GBI tools for buildings, townships and industrial projects have been launched, and the next to be launched will be for residential projects.

Some local authorities have made certain mandatory green requirements for approval of building plans and some have taken the initiative to green the cities under their purview. CB Richard Ellis (Malaysia) vice-president of research, Nabeel Hussain says industry practitioners have a responsibility to adopt sustainable building practices and related technologies in order to play a proactive role in climate change mitigation.



“Malaysia’s introduction of its own green rating system, the Green Building Index (GBI) in 2009, and the Government’s support for the drive towards green buildings and technology should be a good start,” he says.

Thirilogachandran says in Asia, Japan has taken big initiatives in going green and to reduce its carbon foot print.

The Japanese have also taken initiatives in greening their existing buildings in a big way.

More countries are adapting green solutions in property development, including Singapore’s Green Mark Rating and Australia’s Green Star rating that has been in existence for more than a decade now.

Meanwhile, the larger economies like China and India, and other emerging economies like Vietnam and the Middle East are also catching up and have taken initiatives to incorporate green solutions in developments.

To raise greater awareness and promote green solutions in the local real estate and housing development industry, a conference on “Green Solutions for Property Development 2011 – Greener Cities” will be held on July 28.

It is jointly organised by Rehda Institute and EAROPH Malaysia Chapter.

Thirilogachandran, who is the chairman of the organizing committee, says the conference will showcase latest developments on green solutions in different areas related to property development.

The aim of the conference is to demonstrate that green is a feasible alternative in today’s highly competitive market environment through tested, practical and profitable methods.

He says the theme “Greener Cities” was chosen this year to address the green solutions for cities, townships and in the context of neighbourhoods rather than just addressing the solutions for a building or units within a building or a particular site.

It will cover aspects of planning and design, lifestyle, government policies and initiative, telecommunication, green townships tools, low carbon city framework, facilities and assets management and other green solutions for greener cities.



more higher price to pay for house buyers

This post has been edited by kh8668: Jul 17 2011, 01:23 PM

the mind and heart wants to buy. not just now or yesterday but all the time. the question is can the pocket afford it?
the same new homes in 2006 costs about twice today. unless yr income doubled, the decision isn't obvious.
of course, the answer is to go from 20yr to 40 yr loans - that depends on yr age and attitude towards debt.
if i am buying my first home, for own stay, yes, i will probably just go buy if i have planned for it.

i was highlighting the bbb frenzy now spilling over to "opis" pigeonholes that are not quite "homes".
people are buying them as much as buying houses or condos!
will these oho-sovos apprceciate just like homes?
or are developers cashing in on the final lapse of a run for anything that's concrete, steel and new?

this kind of soho-sofo-sovo kind of development is new species of property - mainly target for residential used although marketing as both commercial and residential use due to developer no need to provide so many carparks and also can provide large number of units in the development (coz using plot ratio). this help them make more $$$$.

at the end of the world, people cannot afford to buy 500k property can opt for 200k to 300k kind of developments like this, with exception of premium development such as eco city / i ccon city..LOL

This post has been edited by kh8668: Jul 17 2011, 02:12 PM

ask ourself and the people you know whether they have/hv not over leveraged then we'll roughly know how the local prop market future lies.. if you sense the greed now potentially we may have idea where the property price heading in near future. Don't overlooked external factors as well.

few only....around 2 or 3 only...some gang up to buy semi-d for flip and some buy unit at cycber for flip as welll....

My take is in the next 6 months or so, property prices will come under increasingly downward price revision pressure. Whether or not this pressure works hinges on ETP implementations or specifically the MRT project that is about to take place or not?

M'sia is quite immune to external factors for the last 10 years or so. If external factors are not adverse, it has little effect on local property market. After all, the local market cost base is quite low compare to the region. When it is so low, how much more can it drop comparatively.

my guess own stay-speculating ratio has gone from 80/20 in 2006 to 20/80 in 2011.
ask around a bit more, get honest answers!
most buyers will say buy for own stay, next thing they do is ask which loan easiest and cheapest to terminate early.

Lot of people around me are yet to buy any property. lot of potential buyers around.

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Added on July 17, 2011, 7:42 pmProperty Related Businesses are being well in Malaysia.

today IPC/Ikea are packed with crowds!!!! LOL

This post has been edited by kh8668: Jul 17 2011, 07:42 PM

They haven't spotted their dream house or the price is too high for them?

good Q....I also don't know what they're waiting for. Maybe they got their plans in their minds.

some are aiming for commercial lots instead of house.

Mind tell us which age group are those people?

some of my close friends:
1. late 20s, just joined name with boyfriend bought one 400k property
2. mid 20s, heard him said want to buy property since few months back, but still at looking at iproperty / forum stage, have not move his butt to do some real site visit
3. early 30s, just got married, looking for a landed property to buy, but couldnt find any affordable one, given up, convinced herself that property price is too high and wait for a drop
4. early 30s, got married few years back, has been trying to refinance his house for few weeks, in progress, i guess is to pull out capital to buy another unit
5. mid 20s, just joined as a part time real estate agent
6. mid 20s, few months back heard him say want to buy a property, but now said the price is high and decided to continue to rent because do not want to tie down his financial
7. late 20s, have been looking for new apartment / condo, made some site visits with father but still have not managed to find any (for a silly reason, because the property those are leasehold)
8. mid 20s, jobless now, want to buy but still very blur about the whole buying property process
9 mid 20s, placed booking for one studio in shah alam
10. early 20s, staying with parents, still clueless about property

if above is the norm, then there is this new trend of mid20s wanting to buy prop when it was more like mid 30s with some savings before even thinking of buying in the past. which economies in the world permit mid-20s to buy own home easily?
according to report below, there may also be a situation now some fresh grads look for unrealistic pay but with some attitude as described by employers :
can we say high and maybe even unrealistic expectations is another issue besides rising prices?




This post has been edited by AVFAN: Jul 17 2011, 11:06 PM

my 2 cents on current prop scene.
obviously prop prices can only go 3 way. up, down or remain flat.
to know which direction we are heading for, we need to probe further.
what's the reason for these 3 phenomena.

flat:
this is easy. before we know the answer is gonna go up or down, most probably we are going for a flattish period. this usually happens in stock market. i think we are on this current trend currently. with prices peaking at areas and remaining flat. while some areas are still experiencing slight increases. but generally prices are stable and flattish currently.

down:
many forummers are perceiving this to occur in the quite immediate future. chances of it happening are high too. this imho, relies a lot on a few big factors. the pushing factors would be big financial bad news. and i mean really big bad news. heck if the japan meltdown can't even hit a dent in the stock and prop here, we need serious bearish news to bring the market down. perhaps the double dip. political tsunami. scandaloous news. etc. as a lot of people are at stake here, it's not gonna be easy to push prop prices down. therefore, the flat scene remains for now and could be in for a long time. my prediction of this (IF IT HAPPENS) is gonna be after GE. once after GE, all bets are off. irrespective of who wins, there's be tonnes of news coming out from both parties. there will be continuous negative reporting to depress everyone.

up:
many are sceptic of this. me too. but if one thinks carefully, chances of this happening is great too. developers are definitely giving a huge pushing hands in this. government too are constantly promoting this including the media. it doesn't hurt that the majority of people here (excluding foreigners) have yet to own a prop of their own. with PRIMA's introduction, props <rm300k would most probably be extinct by now.
for me, the biggest push to realise this is through foreign investment. if ETP succeeds, we could be set for another historic bull run which makes the 2006-2011 bull run looks bearish. i have said this many times and i will say it again. listen carefully. malaysia properties are dirt cheap. yes. dirt cheap to our neighbours. and our properties are not 3rd world standards. they are first class properties. on par with singaporean's condo that cost in excess of SGD3000psf.
do not underestimate the purchasing power of a lot of our malaysians working abroad too. if foreign investors coupled with chinamen do decide to go big in our country, they wouldn't leave any properties left for launches anymore.

so up, down or flat. it all depends on which you think is gonna happen the most.
as a true blue patriotic, i am sincerely wishing for a up. that will also signafy Malaysia is coming of age and start to become one of south east asia's leading country again. i do not wish to see us be exported to become maids in sillypore.

salary remain stagnant, expatriates leaving in droves.
lots of africans, yes. But they are staying in mid-end condos with rental affordability similar to the average office worker. RM1000~RM1800 max.
i dont see any upside for foreign investors and mainland chinese to goreng our properties.

Lot of my friends in late 20s and early 30s.

property market in Malaysia are mainly supported by local buyers/investors.

No need to worry if the market down also. Holding it well and don't let go no matter what, cause you will have a big gain eventually.

sorry, i lost you... dun really understand... 2 sen followed by such a strong statement?