KUALA LUMPUR: The Asia Pacific real estate investment market continues to contract further in the face of global financial turmoil, says Colliers International. In the quarterly update of the Asia Pacific real estate investment market, it reported total value of investment sales transactions in Greater China fell by 67% and South Asia plunged 84% in 1Q 2009 compared with 3Q 2008.

The urban traffic problems in Kuala Lumpur city are rather complex, caused not only by a poor public transport system/operation but also factors such as inadequate road junction capacity, road network inefficiency, road users’ attitude/habits, imbalance of land use development and transport infrastructure development.

About 1km from the Sibu Airport in Sarawak, is the 1,400-acre Sibu Jaya township. Visitors can get to Sibu Jaya via the Pan-Borneo highway, which also links Sibu to Kuching and Miri. Upon entering Sibu Jaya, you see conventional walk-up shophouses as well as industrial lots.

While the finishing touches are being put to the two-tower Pavilion Residences, the owner of one of these towers is getting ready to sell the luxury condo units in what is described as a “depressed market”.IMMO Pavilion, a German investment services group that acquired Tower 1 en bloc in 1H2008, believes it is the right time to sell as it sees confidence returning to the market.

Silence, some would contend, is golden. To others, silence is synonymous with consent. Whatever the case, the reticence about the risk assessment report on the tragic landslide that occurred on Dec 6 last year in Bukit Antarabangsa is unacceptable and an embarrassment to the government.Five months have passed since that fateful day when the world of the victims came crashing down.

  The Silver winner in the condominium category for the haven/The Edge My Dream Home 2008 was a modest-sized but captivating 1,100 sq ft condominium in Jalan Dutamas, Kuala Lumpur. Its concept, colour scheme and design, together with fittings and furnishings, blend seamlessly within the space. Black was chosen for a “retro, modern contemporary style”.

Azuan Arif Ariffin seems to have a perpetual smile as he looks out the window from his large executive room at the top floor of Wisma Prowara, located off Jalan Melaka in downtown Kuala Lumpur. At 34, he oversees more than RM9 billion worth of property projects in Malaysia for the government-linked AmanahRaya Group.

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian real estate agencies Metro Homes Sdn Bhd and Zerin Properties have won awards in the Asia Pacific Property Awards 2009 in association with CNBC Arabiya.

While there was a silver winner each in the detached/semi-detached and condominium categories of the haven/The Edge My Dream Home  contest 2008, two home owners — in Putra Heights, Subang Jaya, Selangor and the other in Kota Kemuning, Shah Alam — were awarded the silver award in the terraced category.In both cases, the panel of judges were impressed by the creative transformation of compact spa

If you have not visited S P Setia Bhd’s Setia Eco Park in Shah Alam for a while, you might not recognise it today.  The Green-Canopy Lifestyle Biz-Park, covering some nine acres, is the first thing you see in the 791-acre development. S P Setia’s 4-storey corporate headquarters and Canopy Club, the residents-only clubhouse covering 3.5 acres, are located here.