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Prior to Budget 2014 (to be tabled next month), speculation has rift up on a few proposal to tighten the rules, especially on property sector. Following the outcry from public stating the alarming high property prices, measure should be taken to tackle the issue before bubble was formed. The Bubbling Biz... Among the measures being proposed were: Non-other than Real Property Gain Tax (RPGT) Higher Stamp Duty : ~ 5% of purchase price for 3rd property ~ 7.5% for 4th property ~ 10% for 5th property onward Loan-to-Value ratio reduce to 60% for 3rd property onward While the above info need to be ascertained further, some banks already implemented their in-house ruling. What's that? It was to limit the maximum term for refinancing of property to 10 years . Yes. Sooner or later, all of the banks will follow. * Please note that the above 3 rules need to be ascertained further. Stay tune!

Ever since the property boom started in 2009, right after the global financial crisis, investors were laughing to the bank. But, can these sustain until next year? Many analysts doubt so. Why? The most crucial determining factors might uncover itself in the next few months, approaching year end. In short, we have summed out to the below 3 critical factors: Banning of DIBS This is not a secret anymore. Speculation rife up recently, saying that BNM may ban the Developer Interest Bearing Scheme (DIBS) by year end. BNM is studying the implications of DIBS which benefiting speculators more than serious buyers. Note: Singapore already banned such scheme few years back. Interest Rate hike BNM also may revised the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR), which determine the cost of financing in the country including Base Lending Rate (BLR) for mortgage loan. A 25 basis points hike was expected. This will affect all type of loans, except fixed interest loans. Let's get prepare for higher monthly loan ...

Do you remember the AmAsia Pacific REITs fund? I'm sure you have heard about it. Yes, backed by its success story, AmInvestment Management Bhd has launched a new version called AmAsia Pacific REITs Plus . The word " Plus " is used as a continuation of the AmAsia Pacific REITs and the fund may invest in listed equities in the real estate sector. The fund aims to provide regular income and to a lesser extent capital appreciation over the medium to long term (at least 3 years) by investing in real estate investment trusts (REITs) and equities in the real estate sector. What's the strategy? Minimum 70% in REITs and a maximum of 29% in listed equities in real estate sector, which are in the Asia Pacific region. This is the asset allocation of the fund. Diversification in terms of country and different REITs sub-sectors (etc. residential, commercial and industrial) is expected. An active allocation strategy will be employed by fund manager, based on macroeconomic trends a...

Like any other country, buying a house and taking a  home loan  / mortgage in Malaysia involve legal  fees & charges  - which many people fail to take into consideration especially when they’re buying a property for the very first time. So to all Malaysians buying your dream houses right now, allow iMoney to show you ALL the fees and charges involved when you buy a house or apply for a home loan.

General Election is coming. One of the hotly debated topic would be the escalating house prices and the needs to provide more affordable houses to Rakyat. In line with that, iProperty.com has done a survey on " The 13th General Elections and the property market " with 2275 Malaysians respondents. What did they said? Created by Iproperty MY , the number one website in Malaysia. Whether you have a house for sale or are looking to buy.

General election is around the corner. External environment was not so promising, following the no ending of European debt crisis, world economic slowdown, and recent tension between China and Japan. I believe all of these would be some key factors being taking into consideration to formulate the Malaysia Budget 2013. Goodies? Bonus? Cash handout? Themed as " Prospering The Nation, Enhancing Well-Being of the Rakyat: A Promise Fulfilled ". Our prime minister, who is also Finance Minister, tabled the 2013 Budget at Dewan Rakyat yesterday. Over here, Finance Malaysia blog would only touches on some key points: Economic growth projected to expand between 4.5% - 5.5% Federal Government's revenue in 2013 is estimated to increase to RM208.6 billion Continuation of BR1M of RM500 to households earning not more than RM3,000 a month and also extended the aid to cover a payment of RM250 for single unmarried individuals aged 21 and above, earnings not more than RM2,000 a month RM 1...

IGB REIT comprises of Mid Valley Megamall (retail; 1.72m sf NLA) and the Gardens Mall (retail; 0.82sf NLA) with a total appraised value of RM4.6b . Currently, Mid Valley Megamall is 99.8% occupied and the Gardens Mall is 99.7% occupied. Based on the IPO  price of RM1.25, IGB REIT’s market capitalization would be RM4.3bn, making  it the largest pure retail M-REIT .  Following closely behind IGB REIT in terms of market capitalization size is Pavilion REIT (RM4.08b), Sunway  REIT (RM4.02b) and CMMT (RM3.02b). What are the key selling points for IGB REIT? Prime asset with strategic location, huge catchment area and well connected  transportation networks. Diverse based of tenants to sustain rental income. Low gearing provides ample room for acquisition growth.   Based on IGB REIT’s Pro Forma Statement of Financial position, IGB REIT’s  gearing ratio upon listing will be approximately 25.8% , which is below the  average o...

Sentoria Group Berhad (Sentoria) is principally involved in two complementary core business divisions, namely property development and leisure and hospitality . Its property development business division specializes in township developments and resort city developments, while the leisure and hospitality business division owns / leases, manages and operates the hotels / resorts and theme park facilities and attractions. Its  Bukit Gambang  Resort City  (BGRC) leisure and hospitality facility in Kuantan is the largest integrated resort city in Malaysia that resides on a 547-acre land area and features multiple attractions in a single location. The Listing Exercise Future Income Generating Plan... Looking ahead, Sentoria plans to enhance its recurring income stream from BGRC, by adding new attractions such as Safari Park, Aquarium Park, Adventure Land, and expand the MICE division by constructing a grand ballroom with 3,050 pax capac...

On 7th Dec 2011, the Singapore government announced that it would impose an Additional Buyer's Stamp Duty (ABSD) to moderate investment demand for private residential property and promote a more stable and sustainable market. This is needed in view of the stubbornly high inflation rate in Singapore amidst the slowing demand from developed markets. For those who don't know, inflation rate in Singapore was mainly contributed by surging property prices. The ABSD was effective 8 Dec 2011. After the  announcement , property-related stocks slumped last week, following by a slump in banking stocks because of an expected slower housing loan growth. The latest measures are a near-term negative for property developers with an anticipated trend in lower average selling prices and transactional volumes, which will hurt profitability. Nevertheless, most large-cap property developers in Singapore are relatively well diversified, not just across sectors (industrial and commercial), but also...

Are you bored of the current small market capitalization of REITs in Malaysia? I think Sunway REIT (the largest REIT right now) is by far sitting there very lonely without anyone closer to it. Come 7th December 2011 , we will witnessed a new contender - Pavilion REIT , to challenge the title. Although it may started-off in 2nd place, the new REIT may grows to clinch the first place from SunREIT. Below is some info taken from RHB Research report on the IPO; Pavilion REIT (PavREIT) has an asset size of RM3.5bn , just after the largest MREIT - Sunway REIT’s RM4.5bn. PavREIT has two assets – Pavilion KL Mall which is worth RM3.4bn and Pavilion Tower (office) RM128m. The Prime Asset Pavilion Mall is one of the only four premium retail malls in KL. It is designed to complement the malls along Jalan Bukit Bintang, developing the street to a key shopping destination in the region. Located at the “Golden Triangle”, which is the business, shopping, entertainment and...

Like it or not, Bank Negara Malaysia announced that effective 1 Jan 2012, financial institutions must make appropriate enquiries into a prospective borrower's income after statutory eductions for tax and EPF, and consider all debt obligations , in assessing affordability. Aimed at promoting prudent, responsible and transparent retail financing practices, the new guidelines require financial institutions to make assessments of a borrower's ability to afford financing facilities based on a prudent debt service ratio as inputs to their credit decisions. On top of that, a new guideline was stipulated that the maximum tenure for vehicle financing should not exceed 9 years , with immediate effect (18 November 2011). Right now, there are only 2 banks which offers vehicle financing up to 11 years, and less than 2% of car buyers now opted for tenures beyond 9 years. The changes was neglect-able. Are you an Informed Borrower? The guidelines additionally hope to ensure that consumers are...

Property prices had been skyrocketing since 2009, creating more millionaires in Malaysia. The key factors behind the increasing properties prices were low interest-rate environment, attractive housing loan packages and ample of liquidity in financial system. These had prompt investors ,and general public too, to invest into properties searching for better return among all the investment instruments. Oppss... Favorable Real Property Gain Tax (RPGT) is one of the factor too. While creating millionaires, many middle and low income groups are facing difficulties to come out the higher capital required to purchase their homes. Genuine buyers , who are first-time house buyers, were being forced to delay their buying and ended up renting. This will resulted in widening wealth gaps between Malaysians. As such, government had proposed to increase the quantum of RPGT to counter the potential socioeconomic backlash. (see attachment) Curbing speculations? Traditionally, there are two important to...

Being one of the most established developer in Klang Valley, UOAD is going to be a darling property stocks for investors once listed. The strong "UOA" brand name as a developer of high end residential and commercial properties, makes it stands out from its competitors. What's so interesting about UOAD? Based on the IPO price of RM2.90 per share, the company is listing with a market capitalization of RM3.5bn, which eventually will place UOAD to be the 4th largest property company in Bursa Malaysia . The top 3 are UEMLand, SP Setia and IJMLand. Don't forget about UOA REIT, which is the real estate investment trust of UOA Group in Malaysia. In other words, whatever properties that was construct by UOAD may inject into REIT one day. With UOAD being granted a "Right of First Refusal" to inject its completed commercial buildings into UOA REIT, it definitely provides UOAD the opportunity to redeploy its capital where the proceeds from asset injections will be re-u...

Last year 2010, Malaysia property market recorded the BEST year ever. Will it be another record breaking year in 2011? Many economist and property analysts opine that this year, the property market will appreciates by another 10-15% . So, should we wait some more? Recently, many of my friends keeps on asking the same bold questions. Should I buy house now? Or, should I wait some more? But, when is the property downturn? Modern Design: Swimming pool in the house. Good questions though, but if you ask me when is the property downturn, I really do not know. As a rule of thumb, I will rely on the stock market to give me the indication. Commonly, property market will take a blow one year after the crashing of stock market. Example, the 2008 financial crisis gave us a good timing to invest in property market. For those who buy house during that time, you should know what I am talking about and smile. So what? How about now? Before answering your question, I would like to throw you back a qu...

Malaysia is known as "tax heaven" of the world. Why? Because Malaysia does not impose tax on any capital gains derived from investment, such as shares, unit trust... But, there is only one type of capital gains that attracted tax - property. PARC @ One South, Seri Kembangan Real property gains tax (RPGT) is a form of capital gains tax. RPGT is charged on gains arising from the disposal of real property in Malaysia. These so called real property is defined as: any land situated in Malaysia and any interest, option or other right in or over such land; or shares in a real property company How much? Actually, we have RPGT in our tax system many years ago until 31 March 2007, when government abolished RPGT to attract foreigners to invest in Malaysia. But then, from 1 January 2010, RPGT is re-imposed at the rate of 5% on gains arising from disposals of chargeable assets in respect of real properties that are disposed within 5 years of owning. What is real property company? It is ...

With effective from Year of Assessment (YA) 2009, Malaysian resident who acquired any residential property are given the specially designed tax relief of up to RM10,000 a year for 3 consecutive years from the first year the interest is paid. Residential property means a house, condominium unit, apartment or flat which is built as a dwelling house. This kind of tax relief was given by the Government to counter the property market downturn, or to spur the property mart after the 2008 global financial crisis. It has proven to be a success in Malaysia for the past 2 years, where property prices skyrocketed to a not so comfortable level for most of Malaysians. People are crying foul on the high price to own a house nowadays. What is the Terms and Conditions? To qualify for the tax relief, the following conditions must be met: the taxpayer is a Malaysian citizen and a resident; limited to one residential unit ; the sale and purchase agreement is signed between 10th March 2009 and 31st Decem...