Matrix Concepts sees new property ruling to boosts GDV

PETALING JAYA: Matrix Concepts Holdings Bhd said the Negeri Sembilan government’s move to change its affordable housing policy and bumiputera quota will enable a project’s gross development value (GDV) to increase, in a report by The Edge Malaysia (June 29 – July 5 2015 issue),

“The people will ultimately benefit as there will be more affordable housing, while developers can still make a profit,” Matrix Concepts founder and group managing director Datuk Lee Tian Hock told the weekly.

Lee added that the new ruling allocated only 15% of houses have to be priced below RM80,000, unlike before when at least 30% of the units had to be low-cost (RM40,000). This means that 15% of the units can now be sold at a higher price.

Under the new ruling that became effective on June 9, at least half of the residential units built must be priced below RM400,000 each. It had since come in for a lot of flak from observers and property experts.

To recap, 15% of residential units must be priced below RM80,000 each, another 15% should be sold for between RM80,001 and RM250,000 and at least another 20% have to be transacted at between RM250,001 and RM400,000.

Despite the requirement to set aside more units for bumiputera buyers will increase developers’ cost – as they are required to give discounts of 5% to 10% to bumiputera buyers regardless of their income level and the price of the property – Lee insisted that the new rule is a win-win situation for the public, property developers and the state government.

“When the state government announced the new policy, a lot of developers complained that it would affect their cash flow… because of the unsold bumiputera units,” he said.

“For Matrix Concepts, we have no problem in selling those units. I suggest to the other developers is that when launching projects, make sure you advertise in the Malay newspapers. In the next six months, you advertise twice more. If you still have unsold bumiputera units, then you can file to [have the units released] to the market,” he added.

Lee also said that the company had “no problems” fulfilling the previous 30% bumiputera quota because his target group are bumiputeras.

“Now that my township has started to mature, more non-bumiputeras are buying units here,” he said.

The Seremban-based Matrix Concepts was founded in 1997. It has sold over 21,000 residential and commercial properties with a total GDV of RM2.4 billion. Its flagship township is the 5,000-acre Bandar Sri Sendayan just 7km outside Seremban. It has 500 acres in Labu and Rasah, also in Negeri Sembilan.