News by Kamarul Azhar

Developers with a chunk of their sales in affordable housing are expected to weather the storm much better than those with high-end products, say analysts and real estate consultants.

While the Malaysian economy is not in a full-blown crisis, the slowdown is definitely giving many developers a headache.

According to TRX City’s 2015 annual report, which was filed with the Companies Commission of Malaysia on April 1, the sharp drop in earnings was due to an almost tripling of “other expenses” to RM158.85 million, from RM55 million.

Gabungan AQRS Bhd’s partnership with state-linked companies, including Sabah’s Suria Capital Holdings Bhd and Tanah Makmur Bhd — whose major shareholders include Pahang’s crown prince Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah — puts it in a good position to bag future jobs.

As a greenfield development, Iskandar Puteri in Johor, formerly known as Nusajaya, has gone through two growth phases — infrastructure and property development. The question now is what industry should be promoted to turn it into an economically vibrant city?

This is not the first piece of land in the city that LGM is monetising.

Will the new policy address the problem of affordability for first-time homebuyers? The reaction from analysts and real estate agents has been mixed.

GuocoLand Malaysia has entered into agreements to sell four assets — DC Tower Sdn Bhd, certain offices and car parks at Menara Pandan, a 679.2ha tract in Sepang and a  2,917 sq m parcel in Jalan Changkat Kia Peng, in Kuala Lumpur.

UMLand has also applied for the halal park to be HALMAS-certified by Halal Industry Development Corp (HDC).

According to Tan Sri Abdul Samad Alias, a major shareholder of Profit Consortium Sdn Bhd — the developer of Plaza Rakyat — Guangdong Debao will acquire equity in Profit Consortium, but the stake is still being worked out.