IOI Group: Property prices expected to go up higher

KUALA LUMPUR: The IOI group of companies executive chairman Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng expects property prices to move upwards once the impact of cooling measures settle, Bernama reported.
Last year, as an effort to control the property prices, the government, in tabling Budget 2014, raised the real property gains tax to 30% for properties disposed of within three years.
"After the cooling measures, we expect the price will go up. The next hike will be higher than the last hike," Lee told reporters after IOI Properties Group Bhd presentation in conjunction with Invest Malaysia 2014.
On the company's future plan, Lee said that IOI was planning to launch a few property development projects this year despite the slowdown in property sales.
Asked on the property sizes nowadays, he said they were getting smaller due to the slower demand, and the group was also expected to launch smaller units of houses or reduce the number of house units.
"But for this year, we will launch more varieties (of houses) and we are looking into affordable houses," he said.
Meanwhile, commenting on the group's land bank, IOI Corp Bhd CEO Datuk Lee Yeow Chor said the company had no plans to acquire land at the moment, however it was looking for brownfield sites in Southeast Asia.
On the El Nino effects on palm oil production, he said the effects of the prolonged dry weather on the crops was not immediate, as the company would only see the effects on palm oil production after two months.
"There is a significant impact on the production and the price of palm oil will be boosted but it is not so immediate," he added.