UEM Iskandar homes: Singapore buyers make up 74% of non-Malaysian purchasers

 

Homes and clubhouse at East Ledang, one of the developments in Nusajaya in Iskandar Malaysia in the southern Johor state. Singaporean buyers make up 74 per cent of non-Malaysians who have purchased properties in Iskandar Malaysia developed by UEM Sunrise. Photo: The Straits Times/Nuria Ling

Singaporeans are streets ahead of any other group of foreigners snapping up property developed by UEM Sunrise at Iskandar Malaysia. They accounted for 74 per cent of purchases made at the various developments by non-Malaysians. Most Singaporean buyers are people who go to Johor frequently for business and those wanting a weekend home, said UEM Sunrise chief executive Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim on Thursday. “They buy more of the upmarket products, as foreigners can only buy units that are above RM500,000  (US$158,881), and they have been buying both landed homes and strata developments,” he added at a progress update of the Iskandar projects.

UEM Sunrise is the master developer of Iskandar’s Nusajaya area. Its developments include East Ledang, a 111-hectare project with bungalows and villas and several condominiums at Puteri Harbour, Iskandar’s answer to Singapore’s Keppel Harbour. UEM data shows that Singaporean buyers usually outnumber all other foreigners combined. At the Imperia project, Singaporeans made up 39.1 per cent of buyers, eclipsing even Malaysians at 24.3 per cent. Foreigners of other nationalities made up 36.6 per cent. At neighbouring condo Teega @ Puteri Harbour, 36.5 per cent were Singaporeans, 51.8 per cent were Malaysians and 11.7 per cent were of other nationalities.

A substantial proportion of non-Singaporeans who bought units in Iskandar have strong links to Singapore, Wan Abdullah noted. Many are Malaysians who live and work in Singapore, while others are expatriates or foreigners who visit often. “These are people who travel to Singapore regularly for various reasons, like health care, education for their children, business and commerce or for lifestyle.” The high number of investors flocking to Iskandar has pushed prices up considerably, he added. Prices of bungalows at UEM’s East Ledang development have surged 44 per cent on average in the resale market since 2011. Even so, prices in Iskandar are still much cheaper than in Singapore, Wan Abdullah noted. A 1,500 sq ft three-bedroom unit at the upcoming Marina One condominium in Singapore is likely to be “in the region of US$11 million (RM3.5 million)”, he said. “For RM11 million you can buy two swimming pool villas in East Ledang. These are villas of 5,500 square feet… sitting on land of about 10,000 square feet.

“You could buy two and still have some change left over for a penthouse at our Teega condominium in Puteri Harbour and still have enough change for a tour around the world with your family.”
UEM Sunrise is partnering Mapletree Investments to manage Marina One, which is being developed by M+S, the joint-venture vehicle between Khazanah Nasional and Temasek Holdings.

— 20 Sept 2013, The Straits Times / Asia News Network

Sime Darby, UEM Sunrise to start work on Radia in Q4

KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Bhd and UEM Sunrise Bhd expect to kick-start the RM1.6 billion integrated development, called Radia, in Bukit Jelutong, Shah Alam, in the fourth quarter of the year.
Radia is the result of a landmark 50:50 joint venture (JV) between Sime Darby Property and Sunrise Bhd, a unit of UEM Sunrise. The development will be managed by Sime Darby Sunrise Development Sdn Bhd.

The joint venture was signed in April 2010.

According to UEM Sunrise managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim, the project will cover a gross floor area of 2.7 million sq ft and will be developed in five phases.

"The construction is expected to be completed in 2018," he said.
Speaking at a press conference here last week, Wan Abdullah said the company expects strong take-ups for the property.

He, however, did not reveal the price range of the properties within the development.

Also present was Sime Darby Property managing director Datuk Abd Wahab Maskan.

Designed by French architecture firm J+H Boiffils and inspired by a fusion of Mediterranean and Asian themes, Radia comprises 640 units of serviced apartments, 238 units of office space (400,000 sq ft) and 182 units of retail space (880,000 sq ft).

Upon completion, it is expected to host 25,000 residents and workers.

Access to major urban centres such as Shah Alam, Klang and Kuala Lumpur will be through highways like the New Klang Valley Expressway, Guthrie Corridor Expressway, Federal Highway and the North-South Expressway Central.

Radia will provide shopping convenience and easy access to services for more than 100,000 residents as well as the working population in Bukit Jelutong.

Meanwhile, Abd Wahab said the development will leverage on Sime Darby and Sunrise's expertise to bring further strategic value to their business owners, customers and investors.

Business Times, 17 Sept 2013

Sentoria set to spend RM30mil on 500 acres of land in Sarawak

PETALING JAYA: Sentoria Group Bhd is close to purchasing some 500 acres of land in Sarawak from Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMSB) for RM30mil for the development of its third water theme park and safari resort city valued at about RM1bil, said sources.

The sources said that Sentoria, via its wholly owned subsidiary Sentoria Borneo Land Sdn Bhd, was purchasing the 500 acres of land in Bandar Baru Samariang, Sarawak, from Projek Bandar Samariang Sdn Bhd, a CMSB unit.

The land comes with a 99-year lease term and will be developed over six phases over an eight- to 10-year period. Some 200 acres have been gazetted for the resort city and water theme park, while 300 acres have been reserved for the residential development.

Sentoria closed the day barely traded at 67 sen. It was listed in February 2012 at a price of 87 sen.
These developments are not surprising, as on Aug 13, Sentoria had told Bursa Malaysia that it had acquired two RM2 companies, Sentoria Borneo Land and Sentoria Borneo Samariang Sdn Bhd. Both companies were incorporated on May 3 this year and would become wholly owned subsidiaries of Sentoria.

While Sentoria Borneo Land’s intended principal activity will be in property development, Sentoria Borneo Samariang’s intended principal activity is in leisure and hospitality.

The gross development value (GDV) of the resort city will be RM600mil, while the remaining GDV of RM400mil will come from the residential development portion.

Having a third resort city will certainly be a coup for Sentoria, which is already the operator of Bukit Gambang Resort City (BGRC) in Kuantan, Pahang.

In January, Sentoria told Bursa that it had signed agreements with another property developer, Seriemas Development Sdn Bhd, to develop an RM1.8bil integrated resort city in Morib, Selangor.
Seriemas is a wholly owned subsidiary of PNB Development Sdn Bhd, which, in turn, is wholly owned by Permodalan Nasional Bhd.

The Morib resort city will include a Mediterranean-themed water park and a river safari with lions and tigers roaming free in a tropical setting in Selangor.

Bukit Gambang Water Resort attracted some 600,000 visitors in 2012, with an average revenue per user of RM35. More than 95% of the visitors were locals. The previous year, the theme park had attracted some 522,000 visitors.

For the second quarter to March 31, 2013, Sentoria’s net profit dropped to RM2.52mil from RM6.21mil on the back of a 26.46% increase in revenue to RM49.27mil, compared to the previous period.

For the six-month period, meanwhile, net profit dropped 42.35% to RM10.39mil on the back of a 4.56% drop in revenue to RM92.46mil.

The lower profits were due to the construction of lower-medium-cost housing projects which resulted in lower margins, and losses incurred in the leisure and hospitality division due to cyclical low occupancy rates for the resort rooms.

There were also initial operating costs and overheads incurred for the Arabian Bay Resorts.

The Star, 23 August 2013