developing Kuala Perlis to become a
tourist haven. It intends for it to
become a bustling, modern
commercial and administrative
centre. Reports inform that the
beach-front areas have potential to
be further developed and plans are
being discussed to build theme-
parks, supermarkets, hotels and
commercial centres. As a start, one
can explore Kuala Perlis, known for
its sea produce and fishing, and put
up at the Putra Brasmana Hotel
which has all the necessary
amenities and facilities for a comfy
and “connected” stay.
PROPERTY MARKET
Cheng informed that up and coming
towns where freehold land has
garnered a higher price tag on
properties are Pauh, Jejawi, Mata
Ayeh, Chuping andUlu Pauh.
“Although land prices are cheap and
very affordable in Perlis, I wouldn’t
recommend investing in property in
Perlis - perhaps buying to stay, if
one can adjust to the slower pace of
life here,” Cheng commented. Then
again, investors in no hurry to “flip”
their property/properties would
disagree. One can only imagine the
rate at which land prices will, if not
already, shoot up in the long run.
On the other hand, Cheng informed
that most of the land in Perlis is
Malay reserve land.
CUT AND KEEP
MAY 23, 2014
>Viewof the property scene, general market and tabled issues
T
HE
state government has
plans to develop Perlis’
tourism sector. Under the
Northern Corridor
Economic Region (NCER) plan,
projects to raise the state
economy have already been
established. Various industry
fields have operations already
set up and running. The ripple
effect has drawn investors and
attracted projects worth
hundreds of millions, whichwill
in turn boost the economic
development of the state.
GENERAL OUTLOOK
One of the industries to benefit
from the state’s economic growth
is the property sector. Tomeet
residential demand, it is reported
that the state has plans to engage
contractors to build 2,000
housing units under its 1Malaysia
Housing Scheme (PR1MA). On
the drawing board are proposals
for medium-cost houses and
high-end residences including
bungalows, semi-detached
homes and terrace links.
According to REHDA
president for Kedah and Perlis
Datuk Rick Cheng: “Currently,
we have projects with GDV of
RM200million and projects in the
pipeline for the next three to four
years. We recently completed the
Medan Sri Lanchang commercial
project in Jejawi. It consisted of
19 units of double-storey shop
lots, all whichwere sold-out
almost instantly.” Cheng, also
director of Encomas, a property
development firm, explains that
property development projects in
Perlis are rather small scale
compared to those in bigger
towns. Likewise, the prices of
residences are lower - “Below
RM200,000 for single-storey
terrace houses and
belowRM300,000
for single-storey
semi-d’s,”
he informed.
Encomas
recently launched a
couple of projects in
Perlis. These are
located at Desa
Halban in Jejawi,
Taman Enyun Setia
in Arau and an area
offering single-
storey terrace
houses in Chuping
which has yet to be
named. “Our first
ever project in
Perlis was in the
town of Padang
Besar. We launched
it in the year 2000.
All 111 units of
single-storey
terrace houses were
soldwithin three
days,” informed
Cheng. He added
that people in Perlis
do not havemany
avenues to spend their earnings.
“The savings rate is high in Perlis.
People here would rather invest in
‘brick’ (as in a house) than in other
types of investments like the share
market etc.”
RESIDENTIAL BRIEFS
The house types preferred in this
part of the peninsula are the single-
storey terraces and the semi-d’s.
High-rise accommodation is not
favoured but withmodernisation
creeping in and slowly transforming
the sleepy state, it is highly likely to
be the rage in due time. “Perhaps in
the next 10 years,” Cheng felt.
The state government has
already taken initiatives and started
progressing
PART 2
Perlis
Residential property transactions by
‘house-type’ (Q3 - 2013)
TYPE
TOTAL VALUE
(RMMillion)
Vacant Plot
149
7.01
1 - 1½ Storey Terrace
136
16.49
2 - 2½ Storey Terrace
45
11.00
1 - 1½ Storey Semi-Detached
86
21.93
2 - 2½ Storey Semi-Detached
26
8.57
Detached
12
4.31
Condominium/Apartment
0
0.00
Cluster House
0
0.00
Town House
0
0.00
Flat
0
0.00
Low-Cost House
52
2.67
Low-Cost Flat
0
0.00
Others
0
0.00
Total
506
71.99
Statistics taken fromNAPIC (National Property Information Centre).
FOR DISCUSSION
There is demand for
residential property
in Perlis mainly due
to the slowprocessing
of property
development
applications
according to Cheng.
“Applications take
about three to four
years before it gets
approved. At the
moment, there is a
need for about 4,000
houses a year.
Developers are only able to supply
between 2,000 and 3,000 houses per
year ... this is due to the slow
approvals which leads to the
shortage of houses. To solve this,
the state government needs to
expedite housing project
approvals.” Cheng also expressed
his concern on the state
government’s 70%Bumi quota
Please email your feedback
and queries to:
X
allotment (which from40%was
raised to 50%, then 60% and now
70%) which is the highest rate
among all the states inMalaysia.
“It is very discouraging especially
when there is demand and a
shortage of residential units,”
said Cheng. He also added that no
swapping of land is allowed in Perlis
– whichmeans one cannot change
the title of a Bumi lot. Developers
are also unable to apply to change
land titles fromBumi gazetted to
open land.
On the whole, Cheng says there
is not much freehold land in Perlis.
Land policies are also rigid, though
cheap. However, dialogue sessions
have been on-going between
REHDA and the state government,
“not with the new state government
… yet” informed Cheng. He is,
however, putting in an appeal
on the Bumi land allotment quota,
for it to revert to 40% as it was
before. “To be fair, the state should
have given a windowperiod or
transition period to the developers
who have invested there.”
WOLFGANGSLADKOWSKI/WWW.ASEANNEWSNETWORK.COM
Kuala Perlis ferry terminal.
Number and percentage of transactions by price range for principle property sub-sectors (Q3 - 2013)
PRICE RANGE
(RM)
RESIDENTIAL
COMMERCIAL
INDUSTRIAL
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
LAND
OTHERS
TOTAL
0 – 25,000
9
1.8
0
0.0
1 100.0 135 31.3 4 10.3 0
0.0
149
14.4
25,001 – 50,000
175 34.6 0
0.0
2 200.0 116 26.9 5 12.8 0
0.0
298
28.9
50,001 – 75,000
40 7.9
0
0.0
0
0.0 72 16.7 5 12.8 0
0.0
117
11.3
75,001 – 100,000
41 8.1
1
1.9
0
0.0 36 8.4
2
5.1
0
0.0
80
7.8
100,001 – 150,000
25 4.9
2
3.8
0
0.0 35 8.1
3
7.7
0
0.0
65
6.3
150,001 – 200,000
61 12.1 0
0.0
0
0.0 15 3.5
4 10.3 0
0.0
80
7.8
200,001 – 250,000
33 6.5
3
5.8
0
0.0
7
1.6
2
5.1
0
0.0
45
4.4
250,001 – 500,000
121 23.9 27 51.9 1 100.0 10 2.3 10 25.6 0
0.0
169
16.4
500,001 – 1,000,000
1
0.2 19 36.5 0
0.0
4
0.9
3
7.7
0
0.0
27
2.6
1,000,001 & Above
0
0.0
0
0.0
0
0.0
1
0.2
1
2.6
0
0.0
2
0.2
TOTAL
506
52
4
431
39
0
1,032
% BREAKDOWN
49.03
5.04
0.39
41.76
3.78
0.00
100.00
Statistics taken fromNAPIC (National Property Information Centre).
NICOLAI BANGSGAARD/WWW.FLICKR.COM
Famous limestone hills in Perlis.
