"LOCATION, location, location,'' shouts a property agent in the midst of swamping house buyers and out steps Datuk Zainudin Awang Ngah, chairman of Sime UEP Properties Bhd, who assures investors that demand for competitively priced, quality landed residential properties in preferred locations is expected to remain relatively firm.
However, he could not offer the same comfort to potential buyers of commercial and industrial units. He feels these sectors of the property market are not expected to improve in the period to June 30, 2003.
Zainudin, who has been chairman and director of Sime UEP since June 1998, noted that the commercial, industrial and strata-titled residential sectors had not recovered from the 1997 property market crash.
To minimise its exposure to the three sectors, Sime UEP reviewed all approved layout plans of its various developments and converted several areas previously designated as commercial, industrial and strata-titled residential sites into landed residential development, he said.
In his latest annual statement, Zainudin said de- mand for the company’s landed residential properties remained relatively firm and good sales were recorded during the last financial year.
''The good sales were largely attributable to its location, quality and competitive pricing, supported by attractive mortgage financing packages offered by financial institutions,'' he said.
Sime UEP’s prime development is the Putra Heights township, which saw delivery of four completed phases during the last financial year.
The company has already launched 24 phases consisting of 1,717 units of various products, of which 11 phases were at the Putra Heights totalling 785 units, 10 phases at the USJ 3 development and one phase at UEP Subang Jaya, consisting of 811 units and two phases of 121 units of landed properties at Taman Pasir Putih in Pasir Gudang, Johor.
The new launches at Putra Heights consisted mainly of link houses priced from RM229,888 to RM296,888 while those at USJ 3 ranged from RM208,888 to RM326,888. The prices at the Taman Pasir Putih development ranged from RM79,804 to RM93,888.
In January this year, the company handed over the country’s first Kompleks Sekolah Wawasan at USJ 15 to the Education Ministry.
The Ara Damansara township, for which Sime UEP acts as project manager, delivered its first four phases of completed homes to purchasers in the year under review.
Zainudin said the first phase of the group’s new Bandar Bukit Raja mega township opened for sale re- cently and had received encouraging response from home buyers.
For the year ended June 30, 2002, turnover rose by 22.3% to RM345mil while pre-tax profit hit RM140.8mil from RM112.7mil before.
Source : The Star 4/10/2002 |
