The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
- Developer outlook positive, landed property dwindling
- Classic Ferraris, Bentleys soar in value as gold price sinks
- Wall St Week Ahead: Markets could turn choppy as Fed, Syria risks mount
| Developer outlook positive, landed property dwindling Posted: KUALA LUMPUR: Property prices are not getting cheaper, sales remain robust, locals far outstrip foreigners in purchases, and the number of landed property coming on the market is declining as strata properties trend upwards – these are some of the patterns revealed by a survey of the first six months of 2013 by the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda) indicated. According to the survey, which saw the participation of 150 out of the 1,030 Rehda members, 59% of respondents reported similar or improved sales in the first of 2013 compared to the second half of 2012. The outlook for the second half is also positive, with more respondents launching projects and more units being launched. While the first six months saw a total of 10,985 units of property launched, the following six will see the number climbing to 18,181 units.  POPULARITY & TRENDS The most popular areas in the Klang Valley are 1) Puchong, 2) Cheras, 3) Kota Damansara, 4) KLCC, and 5) Shah Alam. In terms of trends, the penchant right now is for 1) properties with smaller, affordable units, 2) more green features in housing, 3) higher density of high-rise development, and 4) niche developments with multi-use zones. PRICE What's not so great news, especially to prospective first-time residential property buyers, is that the prices most popular among developers in the period surveyed were in the RM500,000-RM1mil price range (47% of developers sampled), above RM1.5mil (11%) and RM350,000-RM500,000 (11%).  And this was before the recent 20 sen fuel price hike, which developers say will likely contribute to pushing prices up by at least 10%. They had already reported rising costs from building materials becoming more expensive, labour shortage and wages. While the percentage of developers selling residential properties in the RM250,000-RM500,000 price range hovered at around 40% from the second half of 2011 through to the second half of 2012, it was at only 23% in the first half of this year. It is, however, anticipated to inch slightly higher to 25% in the second half.  The majority of properties launched in the period surveyed were priced at around RM500,000-RM1mil throughout the Peninsula, with Kelantan and Perak being the exception. Perak had four developers launching property in the RM250,000-RM350,000 range; Kelantan saw four who launched property below RM250,000. This pattern will, more or less, hold in the second half. The most popular commercial properties among the developers are in the RM500,000-RM1mil range – 43% of the developers offered such property in the first half, with 50% expected in the second half. On a brighter note, the percentage of developers that is expected to increase prices in the second half dropped to 45% from 69%. BUYERS Some 41% of developers reported that half of their buyers were first-time homeowners. Local buyers outnumbered foreign buyers at 95% against 5%. These locals bought predominantly for the purpose of self-dwelling (62%), followed by for investment (28%), for family members (7%) and for rental yield (35%). Some 55% of the developers reported unsold units, with 16% saying their cash flow were severely impacted as a result. These are the ones who had upwards of 21% unsold units, all the way to above 50%. The reason cited: unreleased bumiputera lots (30% respondents), low demand (20%) and odd units (15%).  Also, 49% of the developers said they had unsold units above RM500,000 in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. On the whole, developers expressed optimism on the outlook of the housing industry and the property market. |
| Classic Ferraris, Bentleys soar in value as gold price sinks Posted: LONDON: Classic cars such as Ferraris, Bugattis and Bentleys soared by 28 percent in value in the year to June, outstripping gold, art and luxury London property thanks to rising demand from wealthy Asians. Property consultancy Knight Frank, which publishes an index tracking the performance of luxury goods, said the world's wealthy were putting more money into tangible items that they could enjoy as the world economy looks to be recovering. In July, a rare 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 in which five-time Formula 1 World Champion driver Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina won two grands prix, was sold at auction for 19.6 million pounds ($30.6 million), making it the most expensive car ever sold at auction. "It's an asset class that's very rare and it's very aspirational," said Andrew Shirley, editor of the report. "A lot of Asian high net worth individuals have acquired classic cars...They keep them in their garage in the UK or Europe and they come over and drive them in rallies." This is in stark contrast to gold, seen as a safe haven investment in difficult periods, whose value has slumped by 23 percent over the same period following a 12-year bull run. "The thing about gold is that it's tangible in the sense it's a physical thing but there's no great enjoyment to be had from gold...Whereas a classic car, it's still a safe haven play but it's something you're going to enjoy," Shirley said. After classic cars, the next biggest gainers in the index were coins and stamps, up 9 and 7 percent respectively. Art, which had surged in value in the run-up to the credit crunch, fell 6 percent over the period as buyers become more cautious and selective, he said. - Reuters |
| Wall St Week Ahead: Markets could turn choppy as Fed, Syria risks mount Posted: NEW YORK: U.S. stocks could be in for a jolt of volatility in the week ahead as Congress debates whether to authorize a military strike against Syria and as the Federal Reserve's pivotal decision on winding down its stimulus grows near. U.S. equity markets have remained on a relatively even keel recently even as others such as U.S. Treasuries and emerging markets have been roiled by worries over what the Fed is likely to do at its meeting later this month and by the Obama administration's campaign to punish Syria for an alleged chemical weapons attack against civilians. After falling 3.1 percent in August, the benchmark Standard & Poor's 500 rebounded by 1.4 percent in the first week of September. For the week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.76 percent and the Nasdaq Composite gained nearly 2 percent. The CBOE's Volatility Index, or VIX, a proxy for investor anxiety, fell 7 percent for the week, its largest weekly decline since mid-July. Its closing level of 15.85 on Friday was near a two-week low, and the so-called "fear gauge" is within a point of its average level for the past year, so it is far from elevated. Still, President Obama's efforts to convince reluctant lawmakers to back his request for a military strike could get the volatility needles rising. A Senate vote is likely to come next week. "Next week has the potential to see increased volatility and perhaps a jump in the VIX," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York, with $1.5 billion in assets. The worry for investors would be if a U.S.-led military strike against Syria escalates into a prolonged conflict, Ghriskey said. That could be negative for stocks. "The market will be very susceptible to rumor," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey. "The worry is that a surgical strike suddenly changes and becomes a bigger, wider event." The fact that the congressional debate over Syria comes on the effective eve of the Fed's key meeting won't help Wall Street's mood. The central bank's policy-setting committee meets on Sept. 17 and 18 and is expected to announced a reduction, or "tapering," of the pace of its $85 billion a month in bond purchases that have been instrumental in supporting asset prices over the past year.The S&P 500 is up 16.1 percent this year. "If the Fed does taper, it becomes a double whammy," Ghriskey said. If that weren't enough, the question of just who will lead the Fed after Chairman Ben Bernanke steps down early next year also creates uncertainty for investors, not to mention another possible showdown between the White House and Congress over the federal budget and debt ceiling. Taken together, these factors could be the mix needed to spur what many strategists argue is a long-overdue pullback in stock prices. "We're poised for the long-awaited correction," said Margaret Patel, senior portfolio manager at Wells Capital Management. The S&P has not experienced a 10 percent slide, the threshold for a technical correction, in more than two years. LACK OF DIRECTION Outflows from stock funds in the past three weeks may be another sign that investors are growing wary of U.S. stocks. Investors have pulled $15.3 billion out of stock funds in the past three weeks, the most over any comparable stretch since August 2011. About $3 billion was pulled from the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, which tracks the S&P 500, marking the largest outflows from any exchange-traded fund in the weekly period ended Sept. 4. Those outflows suggest investors are "concerned about the future direction of equity markets," said Jeff Tjornehoj, head of Americas research at Lipper. "Our sense is just that money is moving onto the sidelines" said Temple of Pioneer Investments. The week ahead is relatively light by way of economic data, with the biggest scheduled release being retail sales for August, due on Friday. The Reuters consensus forecast calls for an increase of 0.4 percent from July. The earnings calendar is also thin, with just two notable names on the docket: apparel company Phillips-Van Heusen Corp on Monday and grocer Kroger Co on Thursday. - Reuters |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Business News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan