By Sharen Kaur
sharen@nstp.com.my

THE market for residential properties has softened since the beginning of this year and is likely to continue into 2009, market experts say. The potentially negative influence on the sector is supply, said real estate valuer Regroup Associates Sdn Bhd executive chairman Christopher Boyd.

In a recent survey undertaken by Regroup, it showed that there is an existing supply of 19,183 condominium units in Kuala Lumpur, with 13,902 units more under construction.
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22-08-2008: Selangor Dredging sees challenging FY09
by Yantoultra Ngui Yichen & Venus Hew

KUALA LUMPUR: Property developer Selangor Dredging Bhd (SDB) expects the remainder of its fiscal year ending March 31, 2009 (FY09) to be a challenging time, given rising development cost and interest rates that dampen demand for property.

“Due to the general slowdown in the economy, we have to be selective as to when to launch. Our immediate launch is in Ampang (by year-end), and by the first quarter of next year, we’ll be launching our next Singapore development in Gilstead,” said its managing director Teh Lip Kim.

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Did you guys catch the full page advert on the Chicago Spire last Saturday? I remember seeing the exact same advert (with different contact details of course) in an in-flight magazine enroute from Zurich back to London; and thought what a peculiar building it was…it looks pretty much like a screw! So it caught me by surprise when I saw the full-page ad being splashed in our local The Star. I started to wonder if Malaysians do have the power to buy into this kinda development, which starts at about USD750,000 (RM2.391million) for the smallest studio unit all the way to USD40million for the penthouse with totals up to 1200 condo units. They have also added a guaranteed 7.5% returns for the first two years.

Anyway, seeing this being launched in KL, this could signal two things: either they have done enough research to know that there are a lot of Malaysians here who are loaded with cash who would invest, or they just had no choice to launch it overseas since the credit crunch crisis over at the Stateside. The Chicago Spire is marketed locally by Rahim-Co Savills.

31 Mar 2008: Offshore: Chicago Spire takes on the world (The Edge)

Singapore investors were among the first few hundred given the chance to cherry pick apartments in the soon-to-be-tallest skyscraper in the Northern Hemisphere, the 2,000ft-high Chicago Spire in the US. Recently, more than 800 people turned up for the private launch on a Friday evening, followed by a weekend property exhibition of The Chicago Spire.

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By ANGIE NG (TheStar)

PETALING JAYA: Kuwait Finance House (M) Bhd (KFH) is believed to have decided not to exercise the option on 97 apartments at the 210-unit Goodwood Residence development in downtown Singapore, given the softening in the city-state’s private residential property market.The apartments were supposed to be sold to a fund managed by KFH for US$818.4mil, or at S$3,000 per sq ft.

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