LBS Bina Group Bhd expects to gross RM55.3mil from sales of 372 houses in the latest phase of its Bandar Saujana Putra township project, near Putra Heights, Selangor.

LBS Bina group managing director Datuk Lim Hock San said the company expected good response, as the houses to be launched at the end of the month would be attractively priced and come with special financial packages.

The company is offering 108 units of Diamond double-storey link houses with built-up of 18ft x 55ft at RM126,800 upwards, and 264 units of Opal double-storey link houses with built-up of 20ft x 60ft from RM149,800.

Datuk Lim Hock San

The houses would also be offered with a smart-home package featuring security and home automation systems.

''We also expect the recent economic package, with its lowered lending rates, will get more people to buy their own homes,'' he told Star Biz in Kuala Lumpur.

Lim said more than 50% of LBS Bina's property units were aimed at the low-, low-medium and medium-cost markets and were likely to benefit from the stimulus package.

Among the benefits for house buyers under the stimulus package were special tax, stamp duty and real property gains tax exemptions.

Lim also said the relaxation of the Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) policy to allow foreigners to buy houses costing RM150,000 onwards – from RM250,000 previously – would help boost the property market.

Bandar Saujana Putra is an 820-acre mixed development township, with projected sales of RM2bil from 12,000 residential and commercial units – comprising bungalows, semi-detached and terraced houses, apartments and shop units – to be completed in stages over seven years.

Lim also said the company would launch, at the end of the month, 310 units of Villa Subang apartments in Bandar Pinggiran Subang, priced from RM119,000. The company is expecting sales of RM36mil.

Lim also said the first phase of LBS Bina's joint-venture condominium project, Casa Tropicana in Petaling Jaya, was 60% sold, bringing in sales of RM58.4mil.

''The piling work for the condominium project will begin this month, and buyers can look forward to timely delivery of their units,'' he said.

LBS Bina posted a pre-tax profit of RM11.6mil on revenue of RM80.1mil for the first quarter ended March 31, 2003, compared with a pre-tax profit of RM10.2mil on revenue of RM65.1mil in the corresponding quarter of 2002.

The property group has more than 5,200 units of properties being developed in the Klang Valley, Ipoh, Cameron Highlands and Batu Pahat providing constant inflow of revenue and profit.

Source: The Star