PR1MA projects in the Klang Valley received highest demand

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PETALING JAYA (Oct 29): Perbadanan PR1MA Malaysia (PR1MA) projects in the Klang Valley have received the highest number of applicants of middle income earning between RM2,500 and RM10,000 a month, said PR1MA CEO Datuk Abdul Mutalib Alias (pictured) at a press conference recently.

The affordable homes in areas such as Alam Damai, Bukit Bintang, Brickfields and Bukit Jalil are seeing an oversubscription rate of between five and forty times against the available units.

For instance the highest number of applicants was for the PR1MA project in Bukit Jalil, with 13,327 applicants for 320 units, followed by the project at Bukit Bintang with 11,575 applicants for 543 units.

According to Mutalib, the high application rate is expected as a huge portion of the country’s middle-income earners reside in urban areas, particularly in the Klang Valley.

“With PR1MA projects mainly located in prime and strategic areas, the potential upswing in the value of these properties in the future may also be contributing to the high demand for our properties in the area.”

He says there are 450,000 people in the Klang Valley who fall into the middle income category and are yet to own a home. This compares with 1 million people nationwide.

Out of the total 150 projects nationwide, a total of 27 projects have been approved by the PR1MA board, or a total of 198,489 approved units. Of this figure, 4,636 in Kuala Lumpur and 5,081 units in Selangor are under construction.

Mutalib said 800 units have been completed to date. PR1MA is aiming to complete 1,000 units by year-end, and 10,000 units by the end of next year.

“We started construction [of PR1MA projects] in 2013 and we now have about 65,000 units under construction which will be ready in two to three years’ time,” he said.

He added that PR1MA is hoping to raise the number of units under construction to 75,000 by the end of this year. PR1MA’s target is to have 240,000 approved units in total by year-end.

Under the Budget 2016, PR1MA has been mandated to build another 175,000 units of affordable homes.

Mutalib estimates that these projects will require 4,300 acres of land, assuming a density of 40 units per acre.

Noting the challenges posed by high land cost, Mutalib suggests PR1MA collaborate with property developers, by assuming the role of end-buyer and distribute units to the public.

However, developers would have to follow PR1MA’s home specifications and guidelines, and agree on the target pricing, he said.

“Working with developers is a win-win situation. They are the industry players who know their local content and supply. They don’t have to worry about financing or end-buyers as we have an inventory of registered demand on hand and they only focus on construction. By reducing costs such as on marketing, that’s when savings come in.”

He added that working with developers ensures that the incoming supply of PR1MA homes does not flood the market, which would pose a problem.

Meanwhile Mutalib urged eligible applicants to register and apply for PR1MA homes through its website as all units will be balloted.

As part of its nationwide roadshow to provide an interactive platform to share information on its products and services with the public, PR1MA is holding its Expo Rumah PR1MA in Melaka this weekend from Oct 30 to Nov 1, followed by KL in Nov 13-15 and Johor Baru on Dec 4-6.

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