Crest Builder Holdings is humming with activity. Since venturing into property development, the construction group has been building its presence in the Klang Valley. For executive director Eric Yong, the current slowdown is an opportunity for the company to grow its landbank.

PETALING JAYA: Despite the current downturn in the property market, developer Ken Holdings Bhd is going ahead to develop an office tower in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur.  It aims to submit for building plan approvals "in a few months' time" and start work on the project by the end of the year, its executive director Sam Tan said on March 6.

The Edge interviews Zerin Properties CEO Previndran Singhe, who will be speaking at the The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2009 on April 4  gives his take on the property market slowdown.

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Human resource consultant, Mrs Christine Ong, 38, is just the kind of home buyer that Frasers Centrepoint Homes in Singapore is targeting. Ong and her husband live in a five-room HDB flat in Bukit Panjang, which they bought from the HDB 10 years ago. Today, the property is fully paid for.Now, the couple is shopping for a new property. “If the price is right, we will sell our flat,” says Ong.

The property market in Penang seems to be perking up a little as a few developers have decided to take action to spur sales in light of the slowdown.

Property values around the world are in retreat and the situation is so fluid that it is difficult to keep track of the numbers.In London, prices have already contracted by a fifth from their 2007 peak, according to Knight Frank’s Winter 2009 London Residential Review.

When times are tough, the strategy employed by some to steer a business out of stormy waters could include seeking divine inspiration or even help from experts.Feng shui practitioners are convinced that geomancy can improve business and work performance, but it is also no secret that feng shui will not guarantee the desired success and wealth.

Built in accordance with Bandar Utama’s 1988 township master plan, the 4-storey, RM45 million clubhouse The Club opened in January this year, complementing the nine phases planned for the Bukit Utama Condominium Commune in the township in Petaling Jaya. Of the nine phases, Phase One — called 1 Bukit Utama and consisting of 586 units — has been handed over to the owners and is occupied.

Incentives to attract investorsWhen Westport, one of Port Klang’s three major gateways, was opened some 15 years ago on Pulau Indah, it heralded the start of major development on the then sleepy isle.While Westport has since come into its own, becoming one of the fastest growing ports in the country, development on the rest of the island appears to be struggling.Apart from West