Higher benchmark for quality
Posted on | July 23, 2007
By THE STAR
MALAYSIA‘S bid to become an international property destination requires industry players, to further beef up their capabilities and raise the standards of the country’s real estate products.
From the planning and design to construction and property management stage, the bar of excellence and customer expectations has moved higher. The net is cast wider to include foreign buyers.
With the growing pool of foreign investors looking for good investment grade properties, it will serve the local market well to have better quality design and workmanship in order to attract savvy investors from around the globe.
Competition is also heating up, with the value of global investment-grade real estate surpassing US$10 trillion in the past five years. In Asia-Pacific alone, property markets are becoming more transparent, with the emergence of sound policies, deep structural reforms and real estate investment trusts.
Real Estate and Housing Developers Association president Ng Seing Liong said that while Malaysian developers had made much headway in their product capability and quality standards, they should always strive for greater excellence and create a higher profile in the international market.
“Besides competing on the product front, we also have to make conscious efforts to further upgrade the quality of life and living conditions of the country in order to attract more high net worth investors to make Malaysia their second home.
“In this regard, issues such as safety and security, maintenance culture of public amenities and services, and access to public transportation networks, libraries, cultural centres and public parks, should also be made priority areas by all parties concerned,” Ng told StarBiz.
Master Builders Association of Malaysia president Patrick Wong said the conducive environment – with the lifting of restrictions on foreign ownership, loans for foreign property buyers, exemption of real property gains tax, and the Malaysia My Second Home programme – should spur industry players to chart greater heights and steer Malaysia into the world real estate map.
“Prices are no longer in the hundreds of ringgit per sq ft (psf) but RM1,000 to RM2,500 psf. These products obviously provide not only quality but also complete lifestyle living. Even at that price, the figure is only a fraction of those in Singapore or Hong Kong.”
DTZ Nawawi Tie Leung executive director Brian Koh said many local developers had now benchmarked their projects against international standards.
“Developers are spending time and effort to undertake study tours overseas to look at the best of the world and are also appointing international consultants to execute their projects. A good indicator is that quite a number of projects have been nominated for or won the FIABCI awards each year,” Koh said.
Going by the number of projects that have been recognised by FIABCI International for project excellence, Malaysia certainly has its fair share of well-regarded projects.
The most recent winner of the Prix d’Excellence award, the creme de la creme of global real estate accolades, is Setia Eco Park, which is judged the best master plan project this year.
Since Subang Jaya township became the first Malaysian winner of this prestigious award in 1995 under the special award for residential properties category, others have also made it to the coveted list.
Sungei Wang Plaza won the special award in the retail properties category in 1996, Marang Resort & Safaris in the leisure category in 1997, Star Hill Shopping Centre in the retail category in 1997, Pulai Springs in the leisure category in 2000, UEP Subang Jaya in the residential category in 2001, Sunway Lagoon Hotel Resort in the leisure category in 2002, and Suria KLCC in the retail category in 2004.
Malaysia also has its share of well-regarded iconic commercial projects that include the Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and the KL International Airport.
Sunway City Bhd senior managing director Datuk C. K. Wong said developers must immediately come up with innovative and iconic designs that were targeted at various markets.
“The property industry needs new sources or a new pool of purchasers from outside the country who would purchase our properties – from the high-end apartments in KLCC and other areas, to commercial and industrial properties.”
He said the top developers had already proven themselves with their world-class projects that met international standards and some of their projects, especially high-end condominiums, were sold en-bloc to institutional buyers from South Korea and the Middle East.
The bigger and reputable developers have strived to reduce their defects to zero or to the minimum, with some extending their defect warranty period to 36 months.
While the residential sector seems to be doing well in international ranking, DTZ’s Koh said the office sector still had a lot of catching up to do.
“Except for our own iconic Petronas Twin Towers, the general perception is that even the prime office buildings are sub-par in standard compared to similar buildings in other key cities of Asia.
“Post-completion maintenance regime continues to be an issue, especially in a weak market where landlords cut operating budgets,” Koh said.
You might also like
|
|
|
|
|
Search
