Pages

Share This

Showing posts with label Penjana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Penjana. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

All steady on the home front in Penang residential properties

Sales done: According to Knight Frank Malaysia, there are pockets of success by some developers reporting bookings and sales for their affordable homes during the movement control order period despite the fact that physical viewings were disallowed.

DEMAND for residential properties in Penang is expected to remain steady during the second half of 2020, especially if the homes are from renowned developers with good quality products.

Knight Frank Malaysia executive director Mark Saw says there are pockets of success by some developers reporting bookings and sales for their affordable homes during the movement control order (MCO) period (from March 18 to May 3), despite the fact that physical viewings were disallowed.

“In this challenging environment, developers with a strong brand name and good delivery of quality products should still achieve decent returns and the gap between higher and lower quality properties will become more evident with better sales for those able to deliver.

“These factors will play a critical role in determining the success of developments. It has become a buyer’s market and many deals are being offered by developers to attract first-time buyers as opposed to investors who have been temporarily sidelined, ” he tells StarBizWeek.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Saw says buyers’ preferences and timings may change, with decisions being put on hold due to job security, ample choices and rentals being more competitive.

CBRE|WTW director Peh Seng Yee says the pandemic’s impact has been softened in the second half of the year with the recovery MCO (which was implemented from June 10).

CBRE|WTW director Peh Seng Yee says the pandemic’s impact has been softened in the second half of the year with the recovery MCO (which was implemented from June 10).CBRE|WTW director Peh Seng Yee says the pandemic’s impact has been softened in the second half of the year with the recovery MCO (which was implemented from June 10).

“As housing is a necessity and with the bank loan moratorium, the residential property sector has been cushioned from the worst impact.

“Hence, the residential market is expected to remain resilient for the second half of 2020. Significant growth is not expected yet as the issue of property overhang, lack of spending confidence by consumers and stringent lending policies by banks are expected to still linger for the remainder of the year.”

Additionally, both Saw and Peh agree that the reintroduction of the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) was a much-needed boost to the local property market. The government reintroduced the HOC in June under the Short-Term Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana).

Mark Saw: In this challenging environment, developers with a strong brand name and good delivery of quality products should still achieve decent returns and the gap between higher and lower quality properties will become more evident with better sales for those able to deliver. 
Mark Saw: In this challenging environment, developers with a strong brand name and good delivery of quality products should still achieve decent returns and the gap between higher and lower quality properties will become more evident with better sales for those able to deliver.

Peh says the HOC is expected to continue to spur the buying momentum for residential properties in Penang over the short term.

“Developers are experiencing a pick-up in bookings by buyers compared with the first half of 2020, which was mainly affected by the MCO.

“However, the encouraging bookings have yet to be fully translated into good actual sales, due largely to stringent lending policies by the bank and the challenges and uncertainty in the economy and job market.”

Saw also believes the HOC will be a short-term reprieve for the local property market.

“The HOC initiatives will only be a temporary measure. For the long term, developers should carry out proper feasibility studies to determine the marketability of their products before commencing developments and ending up with unsold units.”

According to Saw, the volume of residential transactions in Penang decreased 19.7% to 2,748 units in the first quarter of 2020 compared with 3,422 units in the fourth quarter of 2019.

“The value of transactions in the residential sub-sector during the first quarter (RM1.06bil) indicated a drop of 17.2% compared with RM1.28bil in the fourth quarter of last year, ” he says.

Under the HOC, stamp duty exemption will be provided on the transfer of property and loan agreement for the purchase of houses priced between RM300,000 and RM2.5mil.

Meanwhile, the exemption on the instrument of transfer under the HOC is limited to the first RM1mil of the home price, while full stamp-duty exemption is given on loan agreement effective for sales and purchase agreements signed between June 1 and May 31,2021.

The government has also announced real property gains tax (RGPT) exemption for Malaysians for the disposal of up to three properties between June 1,2020 and Dec 31,2021.

The HOC was kicked off in last January to address the overhang problem in the country. The campaign, which was initially intended for six months, was extended for a year.

It proved successful, generating total sales of RM23.2bil in 2019, surpassing the government’s initial target of RM17bil.

Meanwhile, Knight Frank in its Real Estate Highlights Research for the first half of 2020 says that amid the current global recession, Invest Penang has revised downwards its foreign direct investment (FDI) target for 2020 to RM5mil.

“This will be supported by the shift towards Industry 4.0 and the various tax incentives and reinvestment allowances as announced under Penjana that seeks to promote Malaysia as a choice destination for FDIs.”

To clear RM2.6bil worth of 3,043 overhang units in the state, Knight Frank says the Penang local government, housing, town and country planning committee has announced that the state will reduce the minimum price threshold for foreign property ownership by up to 40% starting from June 11,2020.

“Ceiling prices for stratified properties on the island will be reduced by up to 20% from RM1mil to RM800,000 and on the mainland, from RM500,000 to RM400,000.”

In the high-end condominium segment, Knight Frank says IJM Perennial has put on hold the development of The Light City.

“Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the group had indicated that it would resume development in August 2020. To be developed over a period of more than four years, Phase 1 will feature a mall with 680,000 sq ft net lettable area, the Penang Waterfront Convention Centre, a four-star hotel with 500 rooms, offices and the ‘Mezzo’ residential condominiums.

“Meanwhile, for Phase 2, there are plans for a 300,000-sq-ft mall, a five-star hotel with 250 rooms, offices, the ‘Essence’ residential condominiums and possibly an experiential theme park. It is worth noting that the commencement of Phase 2 will be determined by the sales of the Mezzo condominiums and the occupancy of the mall.”

As for the office sub-sector in Penang, Knight Frank says the average occupancy rate for four prime buildings monitored in George Town remained stable at 89%.

“According to the latest National Property Information Centre report, the average occupancy rate in the state continued to hold steady at 81.4% in the first quarter of 2020 (compared with 81.3% in the fourth quarter of 2019).”

 Source link

Related posts:

Young buyers flock to property market

 

‘It’s the right time to invest’ 


https://youtu.be/wT4fZ9IcR6c https://youtu.be/nzqy79-m8Z0 Extension for those in need | The Star Rapt attention: Laun...
( From left) Chow looking at the Penang NCER human capital graphic info. With him are John, state executive councillor Datuk Abdul Halim .

Do we still need an office?

Millennials now make up over a third of the workplace and overwhelmingly value flexibility in where, when and how to work. And top talent has been increasingly clustering in dense urban areas and has been unwilling to commute to suburban office parks

We found that data availability and transparency in the real estate sector is less than what we were used to when we were

Related news:


Potential new DIBS boon

PropertyGuru raises S$300mil to accelerate growth in SE Asia

Minister: Unsold high-end properties here to be offered to HK ...

Vacancy tax – timely solution to problem of property overhang


Insight - Solution sought for unsold high-end properties | The ...

Vacancy tax on back burner | The Star

EXCLUSIVE It's off!: Proposed tax on unsold property put on ..

 

Homestay guests are not 'tenants' | The Star

 House rules to rein in homestays Homestay guests are not ‘tenants’

 http://mystar.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx#

 

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Covid-19 CMCO: daycare centres SOP. One-off grant of RM5,000 for childcare centres

Childcare centre operators are advised to refer to the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and Social Welfare Department’s websites for information on the updated SOPs. — Bernama pic
  
CMCO: Updated SOPs for daycare centres tabled yesterday, says Ismail Sabri


PUTRAJAYA, June 2 — The government will update the standard operating procedures (SOP) for childcare centres, thereby enabling the vast majority to resume their activities.

Senior Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry tabled the updated SOPs earlier today during the ministerial meeting on implementing the conditional movement control order (MCO)

“Before this, 304 out of 7,000 childcare centres nationwide were allowed to operate per the government’s SOPs. The update will enable the remaining 6,696 centres to operate immediately,” he said during his daily press briefing.

Childcare centre operators are advised to refer to the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry and Social Welfare Department’s websites for further information.

Ismail Sabri added the SOPs for pre-schools and kindergartens will be finalised by the Education Ministry before they are allowed to resume operations, as their management falls under the purview of several other ministries.

As of yesterday, the Housing and Local Government Ministry has conducted 7,426 public sanitation operations in 132 zones since efforts began on March 30.

Approximately 10,956 premises have been sanitised, including 2,642 business centres, 4,056 government buildings, 1,581 housing areas including public housing, 2,325 public areas, and 352 supermarkets.

Yesterday alone saw 47 sanitation operations conducted covering 31 zones in 10 states, including 14 in Sabah, and seven in Johor and Melaka.

As of 8am today, 185 Covid-19 quarantine centres are in operation compared to 186 the day before. Currently 14,365 individuals are undergoing mandatory quarantine.

Approximately 168 Malaysians were brought back yesterday from Thailand, Singapore, China, Australia and the Netherlands, and placed in quarantine.

Since April 3, 48,773 Malaysians have been brought back from abroad and quarantined, with 38,021 individuals having since completed their mandatory 14-day quarantine period and allowed to return home.

Source link


RM5,000 allocation to help nurseries carry out new healthcare SOP


 
Welcome help: the government subsidy will allow childcare centres to carry out daily sanitisation and cleaning activities so parents are more comfortable with the idea of bringing their children back to the centres.

The childcare subsidy in the Pelan Jana Semula Ekonomi Negara (Penjana) will help support working parents and nurseries in adapting to the new normal.

Association of Registered Childcare Providers Malaysia president Anisa Ahmad said the one-off grant of up to RM5,000 per registered childcare centre (taska) would help them carry out important new healthcare standard operating procedure (SOP).

“The grant will help a taska carry out daily sanitisation and cleaning activities, making parents more comfortable in sending their children to nurseries due to the enhanced safety procedure.

“Many parents were asking for taska to open up but when we reopened recently, not many children were sent there.

“Parents are still wary of Covid-19 but it’s also expensive for us to operate and pay rental and staff salaries if we are unable to collect enough monthly fees.

“So we hope that the new initiatives will restore their confidence and encourage parents to send their children to nurseries again, ” said Anisa yesterday.

The fact that early childhood education was given a mention by the Prime Minister in his short-term economic revival package and included in Penjana was “very refreshing”, she added.

The government is providing incentives to train new practitioners for childcare and early education courses under the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.

“We understand that it is an incentive of RM900 for the Permata programme and we’re happy that early childhood education was given a focus, ” Anisa said.

On the RM800 e-vouchers per household for mobile childcare services, Anisa said: “As far as I know, online childcare services are not licensed or certified by the Welfare Department. More clarity is needed on this.”

About 8,000 childcare centres, 5,000 households and an estimated 10,000 new early education practitioners will benefit from the government’s childcare subsidy programme.

Parents like Sheikh Rahim, 30, welcomed the increase in income tax relief for parents on childcare services expenses from RM2,000 to RM3,000 for the year assessment of 2020 and 2021.

“It’s a relief especially since we are halfway through the year and taska usually ends by November, ” said the executive at a travel company.

Asked if he would be confident enough to send his three-year-old child back to taska soon, Sheikh said this would depend on the compliance of the operator.

Nurhidayah Rahman, 27, who is eight months pregnant and looking to continue working after her maternity leave, gave the thumbs up to the increase in income tax relief.

“Monthly expenses for taska in Kuala Lumpur range between RM1,000 for basic and RM1,800 for more upscale care.

“So any offset is welcomed as it puts more money into the pocket of parents but the government will also have to play its role by having stringent approval for nurseries, ” she said.


Read more:


Parents to play bigger role under new SOP | The Star




Related Posts:


https://youtu.be/9evJFXr_Z7Y PM: Govt targets SMEs and mid-tier firms in short-term economic recovery package In his special address..



Dormitories https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/06/05/schools-gear-up-for-new-normal?jwsource=cl Temperature scre...