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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Penang Property | US site names George Town among ‘great places toretire’

February 24, 2013

NEW YORK, Feb 24 — George Town in Penang, Malaysia has been voted one of the world’s “eight great places to retire abroad”.
This also makes Malaysia the only Asian country to figure in the list as others in the reckoning are Medellin (Colombia), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Salinas (Ecuador), Bilbao (Spain), Coronado (Panama), Galway (Ireland) and Tlaxcala (Mexico).

The accolade for George Town and the rest comes from Kiplinger, a specialist in personal finance and business forecasting, which provides advice on retirement, taxes, investment and real estate, among others.

Kiplinger, which has an online publication, in its latest issue describes the climate of George Town, with a population of about 740,200, as hot and humid.

“Located in northwest Malaysia, George Town gets its fair share of rain, particularly in April and October,” it said.

One attraction for retirees is the fact that Malaysia has good, affordable and quality medical and dental services.

“Foreigners routinely travel to Malaysia for affordable, quality medical and dental services. There are several hospitals and clinics in and around George Town,” the report points out.

As far as the cost of living is concerned, Malaysia ranks third, behind only Thailand and the Philippines, in the Global Retirement Index, in terms of lowest living costs.

But the draw, which is likely to arouse the interest of US retirees, considering that seniors generally are restrained about their spending, was that “an American couple can get along extremely well on US$1,500 (RM4,500) a month!”

But a major attraction about George Town, and indeed, about Malaysia is the fact that it has a British colonialism flavour.

Over the past decade, Kiplinger said, 19,488 foreigners, including 815 North Americans, “have taken advantage of a programme called Malaysia My Second Home, which offers retirement incentives such as long-term residency status and breaks on car imports and purchases”.

But Kiplinger also did not fail to mention the caveats.

“Applicants must meet strict financial requirements. But there is a charm and bustle to George Town, the capital of the Malaysian state of Penang. A UNESCO World Heritage site, Malaysia’s oldest city is known for its rich history but also for its street food and intriguing architecture.

“It’s populated mainly by ethnic Chinese, but English is spoken, thanks to the country’s historical ties to Britain.”

For the piece on retiring abroad, Kiplinger consulted three experts on overseas retirement: Betsy Burlingame of ExpatExchange.com, Kathleen Peddicord of Liveandinvestoverseas.com and Jennifer Stevens of InternationalLiving.com. — Bernama

Kiplinger asserted that US couples could “get along extremely well on US$1,500 a month” in Penang. — File pic

Source reference link: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/us-site-names-george-town-among-great-places-to-retire/


Monday, February 18, 2013

Nowhere but up: PropertyGuru

Posted on 18 February 2013 - 05:40am
Ee Ann Nee
sunbiz@thesundaily.com

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 18, 2013): House prices and sales in Malaysia are set to climb this year as all signs are pointing to an optimistic economy, said PropertyGuru's newly-appointed country manager for Malaysia, Gerard Kho.

"There will probably be an increase in activity (transactions) from buyers this year, as many of them weren't sure where the market was going last year (and held back their purchases) due to political issues," he told SunBiz in an interview.

Kho does not expect the upcoming election to affect the property market as he has witnessed several "big investor groups" making en bloc acquisitions in key areas towards the end of 2012.

"Investors of that level would not come in to buy unless they know there's a lot of upside in the market. With these groups of investors coming in, it gives us the confidence that they know what would happen even where there is a change in government. They've weighed it (the risk) out."

Kho believes that regardless of who wins the election, the property market is going to see a faster momentum, driven by domestic demand.

As property transactions were less last year, Kho also said 2013 could be a catch-up year.

"In terms of pricing of properties, key areas such as the Klang Valley will continue to go up if there is not much pressure from sellers to dispose of properties. From that perspective, if pricing is not as good as it should be, they'd just hang on to their properties, as there would be no reason to sell."

On property hot spots, Kho said: "Any property that is less than 10km to 12km from the town centre is going to do well."

"Same goes with those along major highways. Any property in the Klang Valley such as Serdang, Klang and Sungai Buloh would do well, as well as Damansara Heights and Mont Kiara."

PropertyGuru Group CEO Steve Melhuish said Iskandar Malaysia in Johor is also set to benefit from Singapore's recent rounds of property cooling measures.

"They (measures) are bringing to a halt a lot of buying activities in Singapore, but are also pushing buyers out of Singapore. The number one location for Singaporean buyers is Malaysia and the number one location is Iskandar."

Melhuish said there is a marked increase in project marketing and buying activities in Iskandar by Singaporean buyers and by foreigners living in Singapore not just for investment but also for relocation.

"We're seeing Singaporeans increasingly relocating, swapping a tiny three or four-room HDB to a 3,000 sq ft bungalow in Iskandar," he added, noting that the changes in the last six months have drove up property prices in Iskandar.

Source reference link: http://m.thesundaily.my/news/615111

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Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Penang Property | MALAYSIA | Oasis Condo - unit for rent

Penang Property | Oasis Condo - High floor unit(build up: 1069 sq ft) with pool view and 2(two) car parks for rent. At very reasonable rental. Interested call VulcanInternational +6 016 451 1321 .