In Depth stories

The year 2013 was a seminal one for property developers. That was when the URA private residential price index scaled new heights in 2Q2013, surpassing the two previous peaks of 2Q2008 and 2Q1996. At end-June 2013, the Monetary Authority of Singapore sprang the mother lode of macroprudential policies — the total debt servicing ratio (TDSR) loan framework — which when combined with the punitive property cooling measures, triggered a downslide in private residential property prices for 14 straight quarters.

The compression in its bottom line was largely due to the fallow period of project awards. In contrast, property division’s revenue bucked the trend by growing from RM359.3 million in 6MFY2016 to RM515 million in 6MFY2017 (43.3% y-o-y) driven by sales pickup from Gamuda and Celadon City in Ho Chi Minh City.

Over the past three years, the government has repeatedly said that it is “too early” or “premature” for the property cooling measures to be lifted. This was despite increasingly strident calls by property developers and other industry players for some of the more punitive measures to be tweaked.

The Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture is looking to roll out several initiatives to strengthen the programme, possibly from the third quarter of 2017.

SS2, which was first developed in the 1970s by S.E.A Housing Corp Sdn Bhd, is one of the largest districts of Petaling Jaya featuring one of its most established commercial hubs.

The Parque Residences is envisioned to cultivate a close-knit community like in the good old days when neighbours are like an extended family.

Its CNP declined by 11% on the back of weaker manufacturing earnings before interest and tax (-30%) as margins slipped to 7% (from 10%) likely on commencement of new consumer product plants, as well as competitive pricing strategies to gain market share.

Three out of the seven developers in our coverage (Eco World Development Group Bhd, LBS Bina Group Bhd and S P Setia Bhd) target 5% to 21% sales growth in 2017 while Mah Sing Group Bhd aims to at least maintain its FY2016 sales level.  

The new SSD rates will be 12%, 8% and 4% of the property value for homes sold within the first, second and third year of purchase respectively.