Mah Sing eyes bigger affordable housing stake

The Star

Mah Sing Group Bhd’s landbanking strategy of locking in large tracts of township land is sharpening the developer’s competitive edge to carve a bigger market share in the affordable housing sector.

Following the Government’s market cooling measures that also involved the tightening of bank lending guidelines, the mid-end property market looks likely to make up the bulk of new house purchases going forward.

Mah Sing group managing director cum group chief executive Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum (pic) said that for 2014, 81% of the company’s target residential launches would comprise mainly mass to mid-segment products priced at RM700,000 and below.

The company has a remaining landbank of 2,818 acres worth a gross development value (GDV) of RM26.82bil. It is targeting to improve sales by 20% from the 2013 level of RM3bil.

Mah Sing will be one of the biggest exhibitors at this year’s Starproperty Fair to be held at Setia City Convention Centre in Shah Alam from May 30- June 1, in Penang at Gurney Plaza from July 24-27, in Petaling Jaya at Tropicana City Mall from Oct 17-19, and also at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from Nov 21-23.

“Our projects are targeted at buyers who buy for own use or for long-term rental income. Hence the take-up rate of our projects has not been much impacted,” Leong said.

Its 480 acres in Rawang will offer mostly link houses priced from RM400,000; phase one of Southville@KL South on 428 acres in Bangi will comprise mainly affordable apartments priced from RM338,000; and the 1,352 acres in Bandar Meridin East will have mostly affordably priced linked houses.

Leong said several research houses concurred that property demand might improve this year due to the impending implementation of the goods and service tax (GST) in April 2015.

“Buyers are expected to take advantage of the current accommodative interest rate regime given the experience in other countries where buyers purchased properties in anticipation of future cost-push inflation on asset prices,” he added.

Although Mah Sing has shifted its focus to mass-market products to cater to the average buyers, it is still maintaining some higher-end products in selected locations. These include One Legenda in Cheras comprising 3-storey bungalows, Aspen in Cyberjaya within a resort environment, M City in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, Icon City, and Icon Residence.

Leong said key projects by Mah Sing this year included The Meridin@Medini in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor, an 8.19-acre integrated development comprising the Meridin Linx SoVo, Meridin Exchange Corporate Towers, Meridin Walk Lifestyle Retail and Office Tower and a Wellness Residential Enclave, with a total GDV of RM1.1bil.

In the second and final phase of the project, there will be affordable small sized commercial units, the Meridin Suites and Meridin Sovo.

Also in Johor, the RM5bil Bandar Meridin East is a proposed 1,352 acre-integrated township within the vicinity of Masai-Pasir Gudang-Tg Langsat eastern growth corridor.

In the Klang Valley, Southville City@KL South in Bangi is expected to see strong demand for its 2½-storey linked houses with built-up of 2,650 sq ft priced from RM860,000.

Meanwhile, Star Residence, an integrated project in Subang Bestari, is a purpose built development comprising serviced apartments and shops. In the first phase, serviced apartments from 682 sq ft, indicatively priced from RM307,800, will cater to buyers working in Subang Airport and the nearby business parks.

Lakeville Residence in Taman Wahyu, Kepong, offers serviced residences with indicative built-up from 950 sq ft, 1,200 sq ft and above. The residential units have indicative price from RM668,800.

The other projects include M Residence 3 in Rawang and D’Sara Sentral in Sungai Buloh.

In Penang, Ferringhi Residence in Batu Ferringhi is preparing to launch phase two to keep up with spill over demand from phase one resort condo villas and to benefit from the proposed Teluk Bahang-Tanjung Bungah new paired road.

In Southbay City, the largest phase on 34.5 acres of the massive Southbay township will feature integrated commercial and lifestyle developments made up of a mixture of residential suites, office suites, Grade A offices, retail outlets, hotel and resort, and other recreational attractions.

Another project in Penang is The Loft, located about 1km from the second Penang bridge, consisting of two towers housing 78 serviced residences on each block. The luxury residential suites have built-up of 1,378 sq ft to 1,680 sq ft.

In Sabah, KK Convention City along the coastal highway will comprise a luxury hotel, office towers, shop offices, lifestyle retail, a business hotel and serviced residences.

柔佛產业恐供应过剩

国內產业界近期遭政府打房利空笼罩，產业股表现低迷，丰隆研究为此南下考察柔佛產业市场，並与主要发展商会面，结果发现柔州產业市场未来或出现供应过剩忧虑，展望无法令人振奋。

丰隆发现，新加坡產业买家目前最关心的课题，无非最新推出的海外买家100万令吉最低购价条例，以及3至4%的潜在徵税额，主要因这些措施將直接衝击產业购买能力，反观產业盈利税则不会。

“然而，我们相信新加坡买家可能在短期內退却，但却会在未来重新回归大马產业界，主要因本地產业仍是较可负担的选择。”

此外，该行也得知当局已口头承诺美迪尼地区豁免於100万令吉最低海外买家购价限制，这对在当地进行著高档產业发展的发展商而言，如马星集团（MAHSING,8583,主板產业组），无疑是项喜讯。

不过，考量目前在新山各地进行的高档產业计划数量不断增加，丰隆直言担心產业供应將於未来2至3年內进入高峰，造成供应过剩忧虑，认为產业界短期展望將陷入低潮。

整体而言，丰隆不认为柔佛產业界展望令人振奋，反而更看好那些涉足可负担有地城镇发展的业者，因其长期盈利具备更强免疫力，重申產业领域“中和”评级不变。

UEM阳光工业產业看俏

走访奴沙再也和美迪尼的丰隆研究发现当地拥有许多进行中和筹备中產业计划，並且对市场能否在未来2至3年內吸纳这些產业感到好奇。

UEM阳光（UEMS，5148，主板產业组）在奴沙再也和公主港的主要產业计划，海外买家比重高达76%，因此估计100万令吉最低购价將对UEM阳光旗下“Teega”產业计划造成影响，但其他叫价达300万至400万令吉的產业计划，则不受影响。

在住宅產业展望充满挑战之际，丰隆研究看好UEM阳光未来成长可能由工业產业带动，如该公司现有工业园计划已成功吸引多家新加坡公司光临。

马星销售强劲

马星集团（MAHSING，8583，主板產业组）目前在美迪尼进行的Meridin@Medini產业计划，即使在缺乏发展商承担利息制度（DIBS）情况下也依然取得强劲销售表现，首阶段A座和C座產业销售一空，上月推介的B座產业则取得70%销售率。

上述强劲销售表现，有55%销售额是来自海外买家贡献。

同时，丰隆研究相信马星未来將把其坐落於Bandar Bistari的地库打造成可负担房產，以吸引工作阶层青睞，就该地库约每平方呎7.35令吉成本计算，相信马星可在相关產业计划中取得不俗赚幅。

实达综合產业需求持稳

实达集团（SPSETIA，8664，主板產业组）旗下实达Tropika综合產业计划需求保持健康，这项总发展值达35亿令吉的產业计划，仍剩余50%价值有待开发。

另一项正面因素在於，实达Tropika拥有直通新加坡巴士服务，且坐落在南北大道隔壁，相信这有助吸引长期市场需求。

值得一提的是，海外销售仅佔实达Tropika总发展值的20%，显示该公司未完全依赖海外买家来支持销售量，且该公司拥有的充裕地库成本低廉，让未来推介活动具备极强的弹性。