Eco World CEO hopes to see more measures to help first-time homebuyers

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 15): Eco World Development Group Bhd president and chief executive officer Datuk Chang Khim Wah (pictured) hopes the upcoming government budget will introduce measures to help homebuyers, especially first-timers, in obtaining end-financing.

"Bank Negara Malaysia has been prudent in managing the financial and property markets, but we hope that there can be some measures to ease the financing aspects," he told reporters, after speaking at the CEO Chatroom session for Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd's SME Innovation Challenge competition.

"Through Rehda (Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association Malaysia), developers have expressed their hope on this to the government," he said.

The property sector has been slowing down over the past two years, after banks tightened lending policies, with developers struggling to lock in sales, as buyers face difficulty in obtaining end-financing.

Eco World, however, is still seeing great interests from prospective buyers. "People still come to our sales galleries, day in and day out. We are optimistic about this year," said Chang.

He reiterated Eco World's sales targets are: RM4 billion for this financial year ending Oct 31, 2016 (FY16), and RM4.5 billion the following year. The group currently has 11 ongoing projects, which could reach 18 by the end of next year, he said.

On top of that, Eco World still has 8,052.7 acres of land, held for development.

"It's hard to say if the property market is recovering, because for us, we are still seeing strong sales. Of course, there are those interested buyers who have had problems with getting loans, but we always have replacement buyers to fill in," said Chang.

A big reason for the group's success lies in the variety of products it has to appeal to buyers, from a spectrum of income levels. Chang said the group relies on market research to assess what sort of properties will sell well in each location.

During the CEO Chatroom session, he told aspiring young entrepreneurs who were vying for the RM1 million seed fund that Eco World has actually been accelerating its expansion in the past two years — when Malaysia's real estate market started feeling the heat from tightening loans.

"We didn't blindly come in to buy land and develop. If you look at our local projects and townships, they are focused in three areas: Klang Valley, Penang, and Iskandar Malaysia (Johor). These are where a big amount of employment is created. These are the financial centres and where money flow in," said Chang.

He also shared with the sixty finalists of the SME Innovation Challenge competition that branding and marketing are essential in any business. But knowing the market and research, are the building blocks in creating a great product.

From here on, the finalists will be trimmed to 20, after pitching their business plans to a panel of judges, chaired by Eco World Chairman Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin.

Eco World's stock slipped one sen at the noon break today to settle at RM1.28, valuing the company at RM3.05 billion. — theedgemarkets.com 

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