Would there be lesser property launches in Penang for 2014? Would Penang be the least affected property market? Thanks to Mr. Michael Geh, Senior Partner of Raine & Horne, we can view many of the upcoming official new launches easily within one page. Some of the projects below were already unofficially launched earlier where buyers have paid bookings etc. The dropout rate may be there if the price the buyers bought is now thought to be a little pricey. There are only a few condo projects in Penang at RM1,000psf today. Even for the completed projects which are RM1,000psf and above, there are very few units with lights on at night. Demand remains there but if RM1,000,000 for a unit of condo, how likely is it for a average salaried Penangite to buy? Rely on foreign buying? No doubt, the foreign purchase % will rise but you would be very wrong if your investment mode is to buy now and wait for foreigners to buy. However, if you have a 1,000sf condo at RM500,000 today, even at current slow market situation, I can already think of a few of my friends who would most probably buy one. A young friend of mine just bought one unit of Summer Place for RM650,000 with two car parks.
Well if you look at the types of properties to be launched majority remain to be condo. This is due to the scarcity of land as well as due to the price of land which has gone up way too much. The days of RM5 psf ended many years ago. The list below shows all the major launches and we can see the total number of units remain high, easily over 6,000 units. Based on estimation of 4:1 ratio in terms of 4 people to a house, this is still insufficient and Penang will face shortages soon.
There are a few projects below which will be priced affordably. Some would target at people who are more richer than majority. I term affordable as anything below RM500psf. The reason being, today if you intend to buy any condo in Penang at 1,000sf, it is highly unlikely that you can get one for RM500,000 or lesser. Thus the current slowdown gives you an opportunity because if developers continue to launch their projects even higher than before, think what will happen? For those who are buying for the first time, if you can wait do register for both the Penang state’s affordable housing or PRIMA first.
written on 15th Jan 2014
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