When City & Country caught up with Lim Ching Choy last week, it was at a hotel lounge as his office was under renovation.

I had a fun time trying to decipher the numbers in the latest 2008 Property Market Report by the Valuation and Property Services Department under the Ministry of Finance. The report is a slim volume offering raw data. It also offers a short introduction to the state of the property market as at end-2008.The report should be compulsory reading for every developer and property owner.

IOI Properties Bhd (IOI Prop) made its first foray into the retail industry in the mid-1990s, with the IOI Mall in Puchong.

Section 14 in Petaling Jaya has been the subject of much talk following the collapse of part of the old Jaya Shopping Centre in the early evening of May 28. The building was in the process of being demolished when a 5-storey portion of the structure gave way, killing seven construction workers.A few days after the incident, the scene of the tragedy continues to attract curious passersby.

When it comes to property development in Sri Hartamas, among the players that are likely to be mentioned is Malaysia Land Properties Sdn Bhd (Mayland). The Hong Kong-based developer, which recently launched its serviced apartments, The Regalia development off Jalan Sultan Ismail in Kuala Lumpur last year, is still busy in Sri Hartamas.

From the shockingly high fuel hike last June and its subsequent fall, instability of building material supply and prices, liberalisation of importing building materials and the recent amendment to the Stamp Act 1949, the construction industry is facing one challenge after another.It was not that long ago when unstable building material supply and prices, especially that of steel bars and cement

Sunway City Bhd (SunCity) has joined the league of Malaysian developers whose projects have been awarded the coveted Green Mark certifications by Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA).Sunway Palazzio development in Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur, a residential high-rise development, obtained the BCA’s Green Mark Gold Award (provisional), while Sunway Challis Damansara in Sunway Dama

No one would expect an affordable or low-cost housing project to win an international property award but this year, the Fiabci (International Real Estate Federation) Prix d’Excellence Awards found one such winner.The project came out of China, a first-time participant in the awards. Of the four entries from China, two were winners and one a runner-up.

It is not unusual nowadays to see developers jumping on the “green” bandwagon in their new developments.

While many developers are lying low in the current economic downturn, there are some that have gone ahead with their plans.