*Warranty On Stainless Steel Inner Tank 019 320 3877 012 732 3877 www.ocr.com.my (Opening soon) Editor Roshan Kaur Sandhu CEO’S FOREWORD Writer Reena Kaur Bhatt Head of Creatives Angeline Lim Senior Graphic Designers Jason Kwong Wing Wong Ad Operations Executive Nur Alia Ahamd Tamezi Wanisha Ratan Kumar General Manager (Media and Developer Sales) Jenn Adams General Manager, Marketing Jonathan Adams General Manager (Agent Sales) Leon Kong Head of iProperty TV Have you met REBECCA? Jonathan Ong As a company that strives to put innovation at the forefront of Chief Executive Officer all that we do, we were so proud to launch the industry’s first AI Georg Chmiel powered property chat platform, REBECCA. Chief Financial Officer Kenneth Kent REBECCA stands for Real Estate Bot with Enhanced CommuniCation Chief Information Officer Harmit Singh and she gives property buyers and investors yet another International Correspondents revolutionary avenue to search for properties. Ee Von Ng & Leslie Lin We wanted to make property search as easily accessible as possible and believe that Rebecca will allow more people to search for their dream property in a fun and informative way. So, if you haven’t met REBECCA yet, she is currently available on iProperty.com Malaysia Sdn Bhd (600850-K) Suite 11.01, Level 11 Menara IGB Facebook Messenger and Telegram. Go ahead and chat with her. Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia More information on REBECCA can be found on page 10. Phone: (603) 2264 6888 Fax: (603) 2264 6900 Sales enquiries: [email protected] This month is also a big month for us, as we once again celebrate Editorial matters: [email protected] and honour real estate professionals and agencies in the country via General enquiries: [email protected] our iProperty.com Agents Advertising` Awards.` The event is truly Subscription: [email protected] the Oscars of the real estate industry and we are looking forward to International Property: [email protected] celebrating with all our winners at the end of this month. iProperty.com Malaysia Sdn Bhd (Johor) A-2-7, Pusat Komercial Bayu Tasek Persiaran Southkey 1, Kota Southkey 80150 Johor Bahru, Johor iProperty.com Malaysia Sdn Bhd (Penang) Bay Avenue D-25-3 Lorong Bayan Indah 2 Bayan Lepas, 11900 Penang iProperty.com Magazine is published monthly by iProperty.com Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Suite 11.01, Level 11 Menara IGB, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Georg Chmiel Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 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CONTENTS July 2016 2 Events Research Data Points of Interest CEO’s Foreword 12 30 Emporis - The new heart Knight Frank Asia Pacific of Kota Damansara Prime Office Rental Index 8 Q1 2016: 2016 starts on a more positive note 13 Editor’s Note/ Happenings All Eyes on Melbourne Special Focus: 59 10 11 The Gleaming Points of Interest 59 Happenings State of Perak An urgent issue of housing affordability 26 34 Strata Living: Plugging Perak forges ahead with 63 the loopholes transformation plan Ipoh: Time to invest in property 14 36 First Square @ Ipoh: 65 A rising star in Central Peninsular Investing in property 42 67 Taiko Group: Renovation Transforming Ipoh into a stylish 21st century urban hub Research Data Cover Story Research Data 69 Kajang: Property figures 46 14 Perak property market Helios Cove by Greenland – The epitome of a stable in 2015 perfectly integrated lifestyle Points of Interest 50 73 Property Man of The Month Perak residential How to occupy your properties: An analysis property with a tenant... of price trends and Fast 18 rental yields (2011-2015) Dato’ Soo Kai Chee: 75 Heading B&G Property in the right direction 52 QLASSIC: Doing it right Perak gains momentum the first time Industry Update 56 79 22 C H WILLIAMS TALHAR CIPAA 2012: Mitigating & WONG: Perak payment issues within the Making sense of Strata 22 property 2016 report construction industry CONTENTS July 2016 International Points of Agent’s Advice Regulars Section Interest 99 110 82 90 What do i do after House Buyers’ signing the spa for a Association Singapore News How to resolve Airbnb secondary property? Of redemption sums and Happenings guest issues disclaimers 85 114 International News Event Agents: Dato’ Joey Yap Happenings Spotlights of Understanding Feng Shui for 92 The Month property investment 88 Dulux professional serves to better support 116 International Features – trade customers 100 Briefs Sr Vicky How Deposit-Pegged Mortgage What do i do after Auction properties: Should Rates - Comparison and signing the spa for a you invest? opinion secondary property? Investor’s Profile – Young Gun Advertorial 118 Agency Directory 94 102 Sammi Koh: Investing wisely at 29 Khind - Signature series 128 Classifieds 104 Breathe easy with 136 Airegard Subscription 106 Servcorp comes up with the ideal business solution 97 108 Positive Eco-Living with Agent’s Views Pecol® 97 Metro City Realtors Sdn Bhd: We’ve got you covered! 114 EDITOR’S NOTE There is a continuous debate on what more steps Our Young Gun, Sammi Cheng is on her way to can the government take in handling the housing building her property portfolio at just 29 years of crisis. How will people live in the near future? age. Read it on page 94. Property expert Alan Poon shares his views on the country’s challenges in housing Malaysians in this Construction remains a high risk industry. Issues of issue. construction quality and workmanship have always been a major challenge in Malaysia. Construction The Property Man of the Month for this month is industry players cannot afford to overlook quality Dato’ Soo Kai Chee, Director of Sales & Marketing issues and this is where QLASSIC can play a role. Division of B&G Property who believes that the More on page 75. current market trend does not pose challenges but drive sales. Till next month! The Special Focus section covers the property market in Perak which remains upbeat as evident by the promising figures reported in the NAPIC 2015 and numerous exciting development projects in the pipeline. Roshan Kaur Sandhu HAPPENINGS Sunway Mont Residences clinches 80% take up rate Sunway Property’s debut launch of its Sunway Mont the Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club and KL Golf and Residences recently witnessed an impressive 80% Country Club; as well as department stores and take up rate. Its sales gallery opening the previous restaurants at the Verve Shops, One Mont Kiara, week also garnered a positive response, where Plaza Mont Kiara, Solaris Mont Kiara and Publika. more than 1,000 members of the public attended the event. Aside from the facilities for both local and expat families who are seeking for a higher quality of Inspired by the beauty of timelessness, Sunway life, residents will also have easy access to major Mont Residences introduces a lavish 38-storey highways through the SPRINT Highway and condominium set in the Mont Kiara enclave. The Penchala Link to key locations such as KLCC and 2.88 acres development comprises of 288 units Petaling Jaya. ranging 1,122 sq ft - 1,906 sq ft. with prices starting from RM880,000. The development is expected to be completed by 2020. “Central to the address of Mont Kiara, Sunway Mont Residences will offer conveniences that benefit growing families featuring connectivity, education, retail, leisure and healthcare amenities all located within a convenient distance. The spacious dual- key homes also proved to be a big hit among registrants as with the standard units,” said Ang Kee Ping, Executive Director, Central Region, Property Development Division, Sunway Berhad. Located in a private and safe neighbourhood, Sunway Mont Residences is within close proximity to the Garden International School; medical institutions such as the Global Doctors Centre and Global Doctors Hospital; country clubs such as 8 HAPPENINGS iProperty Group set to disrupt the industry with the launch of REBECCA, the first bot for property in South East Asia Cortana, the REBECCA responds to queries from property buyers in the process of researching property and collects data about their transactional behaviour along the way.” shared Chmiel. Chmiel also added, “The data captured by REBECCA is valuable as we are able to identify what properties and where property buyers and investors are looking at. If consumers search in the traditional way by location and price they don’t leave the voice or sentiment trail or detailed search criteria which is possible for this bot to sense and record. The data collected by REBECCA, can then be churned to provide property agents and developers valuable insights into the market. ” He added that as a result there’s far more data in 1 terms of urgency and state of mind which can then be utilized intelligently to help agents close sales. REBECCA also provides agents with 24/7 support The iProperty Group, owner and operator of Asia’s so they never have to miss a call.