Buying homes on the upscale again

BUTTERWORTH: Malaysians are showing interest again in buying properties, especially those in integrated mixed-development schemes and strategic locations, IJM Land Bhd sales and marketing senior manager Patsy Lee said.

This came about as property prices had stabilised, she said.

The four-day StarProperty.my Fair at Sunway Carnival Mall in Seberang Jaya ended yesterday with indications that the property market was still healthy.

“We even got enquiries for projects such as the Terraces Condo@Bukit Jambul and Senjayu@Jawi, which will be launched in 2017,” said Lee.

She also cited the Sanctuary Residence in Bukit Mertajam, launched late last year, which had so far generated sales of about RM80mil.

“We have sold most of the semi-detached units for Sanctuary Residence, priced from RM600,000 onwards,” she said.

Zeon Properties Sdn Bhp chief marketing officer Ronaldo Lim said the four-day fair helped Zeon Properties to generate RM26mil in sales from the City of Dreams (COD) in Gurney Drive and Starhill in Bukit Gambir.

“Since January, the COD and Starhill has generated sales of RM50mil and RM40mil respectively,” he said.

Most of the visitors at the fair were attracted by integrated development projects in strategic locations, such as those that were close to interchanges and main roads.

“This is because such projects have easy access to main roads and are close to new interchanges that are being planned now.”

“Most buyers put inter-connectivity as the top priority in choosing properties, like COD and Starhill, as they don’t want to be caught in a traffic jam,” Lim said.

Zeon Properties is the marketing agent for COD and Starhill.

Thirteen developers showcased over RM2.2bil worth of properties at the fair.

They were IJM Land Bhd, BDB Land Sdn Bhd, Bandar Kepala Batas Sdn Bhd, Uda Land Sdn Bhd, Ewein Zenith Sdn Bhd, Aroma Development Sdn Bhd, Bertam Properties Sdn Bhd, Tambun Indah Land Bhd, Tropicana Corp Bhd, Tropicana Ivory Sdn Bhd, MBI Desa Ku Sdn Bhd, Golden Sands Development and Reka Indah Development (Penang) Sdn Bhd.

Another exhibitor was East West One Horizon Plantation Berhad which showcased its oil palm plantation-based interest scheme offering high fixed contractual returns of up to 88% over an investment period of eight years.