Locations, discounts alone not enough

NST 17/9/2005

Location, discounts and low financing rates are not the only factors that attract Malay house buyers to purchase units they decide on based on what transpired during the Bumiputera Property Exhibition 2005 Kuala Lumpur held last weekend.

While many developers, armed with exclusive projects in prime locations, were disheartened over the lack of interest from these buyers, AP Land Bhd raked in almost RM14 million from the sale of various types of units at its Bandar Tasik Puteri in Rawang, Selangor to the Malays.

AP Land senior sales and marketing manager Daniel Lee said: Our special financing offer, where we pay the roan installments on behalf of buyers for a year, attracted a lot of buyers.

The properties included apartments double-storey terraces and semi-detached units."

Surprisingly well-known developers offering high- end projects including Binaderas Sdn Bhd (under Regalmont Sdn Bhd). Perdana Park City Sdn Bhd, Bukit Kiara Properties Sdn Bhd and Sunway City Bhd hardly attracted buyers.

Some of them did not sell a single unit during the exhibition although the~ received a lot of interest from non-Bumiputera buyers.

This led to several developers reiterating their call for Bumiputera-quota units to be released for general sale.

Meanwhile, 84 developers confirmed their participation at the national-level Malaysia Property Exhibition 2005 (Mapex 2005) which will be held at the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre in Kuala Lumpur from Sept 22 to 25.

In all, some 20,000 houses of various types, ranging from low-cost apartments to high-end bungalows, worth more than RM5 billion, will be offered at the event organized by the Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (Rehda), Participating developers are expected to provide a number of incentives, including price discounts, low down payments, Sale and Purchase Agreement fee waivers and even free grilles and air-conditioners.