Credit-tightening cooling down property market

 Loan approvals for home purchase decline

The banks' tighter lending rules have slightly diminished the actual sales in the residential property market, according to real estate consultants as well as Bank Negara Malaysia data.

Bank Negara's website revealed that the percentage of loan approvals for houses have declined to 46.8 percent in 1H2012 from 50.1 percent over the same period last year.

The amount of mortgage applications for home purchases rose by 2.9 percent year-on-year to RM96.7 billion in 1H2012. However, the value of loans that were approved fell from RM47 billion to RM45.26 billion.

Paul Khong, Executive Director of CB Richard Ellis Malaysia (CBRE), noted that residential property prices could be affected if the mortgage approval rate continues to decline.

"In order to conclude transactions, residential property sellers may now need to realistically adjust their selling prices as many of the buyers cannot get their loan applications approved," added Khong.

CBRE's recent report on Kuala Lumpur's housing market also noted a decline in the percentage of loan approvals in Q2 2012. The report revealed that the rate "was as high as 60.5 percent during the first five months of 2008, and has declined steadily since."

The report also highlighted that the lower rate could be due to the central bank's new lending guidelines.

Anthony Chua, Director of KGV International Property Consultants, commented that although the demand for homes continues to be high, the tougher lending measures have somehow cooled the market.

"We are still monitoring the situation. There is less transactional activity in the market this year for both new property launches and the secondary market compared with last year," said Chua.

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 Actual sale of residential properties declining

PETALING JAYA: The residential property market may be cooling down in terms of actual sales due to credit-tightening measures by banks, according to real estate consultants and Bank Negara data.

Bank Negara's website showed loan approvals' percentage for residential properties in the country declined to 46.8% in the first half of this year from 50.1% during the same period in 2011.

The number of loans applied for purchases of residential properties increased by 2.9% year-on-year in the first half of this year to RM96.7bil.

However, the number of residential property loans approved during the six-month period declined to RM45.26bil from RM47bil in the same period in 2011.

It is also worth noting that the loan approval percentage for non-residential properties was stable at 52.3% in the first half of this year, compared with 52.4% during the same period in 2011.

The number of loans applied (RM50.35bil) and approved (RM26.35bil) for purchases of non-residential properties was also stable in the first half of this year.

CB Richard Ellis (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd executive director Paul Khong said if the housing loan approval rate continued to decline, it will affect residential property prices.

“In order to conclude transactions, residential property sellers may now need to realistically adjust their selling prices as many of the buyers cannot get their loan applications approved,” he said.

KGV International Property Consultants director Anthony Chua said although the demand for residential properties continued to be high, the credit-tightening measures by banks had resulted in the market “cooling somewhat”.

“We are still monitoring the situation. There is less transactional activity in the market this year for both new property launches and the secondary market compared with last year,” said Chua.

Property consultancy CB Richard Ellis (M) Sdn Bhd had, in its recent report on the Kuala Lumpur residential market for the second quarter of 2012, also noted that there was a significant decline in the loan approval percentage this year.

“The loan approval rate was as high as 60.5% during the first five months of 2008, and has declined steadily since,” said the report.

The CBRE report said that the lower rate of loan approvals this year could be attributed to the implementation of new lending guidelines by Bank Negara.

Effective this year, banks have started using net income instead of gross income to calculate the debt service ratio for loans.

“Anecdotal evidence from real estate agents suggests that transactional activity has also declined as a result.”

The property consultancy also pointed out that despite the lower loan approval rates, buyer interest in new property launches, typically of smaller housing units in secondary locations, during the second quarter remained strong with developers continuing to offer attractive incentives to the purchasers such as the developer interest bearing scheme (DIBS), early bird discounts, free built-in cabinets and free legal fees.

“We expect 2012 to be a period of stabilisation especially within the luxury residential market, with transactional activity depressed by uncertain economic conditions and the reduction in loan approval percentage, which remains well below 50%.”

The CBRE report also said speculative property purchases were expected to be reduced for the rest of this year, as a result of tighter lending conditions, uncertain economic outlook, and concerns about the outcome of the upcoming general election.

Meanwhile, another property consultant said the tighter lending conditions had taken a visible toll on the secondary residential property market.

“Newly-launched properties are selling well thanks to better financing access, especially with the DIBS offered by many property developers.”

The consultant said slower sales activities in the secondary residential property market had resulted in innovative offers from marketing agents.

“This includes transactions where buyers sign the sales and purchase agreement but take the bank loans only a year or twolater. In effect, the buyers lock in the unit price now (perhaps in anticipation of further increases in market prices) and defer payment until much later. This works just like an informal DIBS,” he said.

In a recent report, Kenanga Research also said based on its channel checks, the secondary market appeared to be very weak and prices of secondary and primary products have diverged further.

The research unit opined that buyers were more focussed on new launches due to financing and promotional schemes.

“From a bank's perspective, we think there is a preference to lend to the primary market as it means better asset quality whilst banks can get all-in' deals with developers (for example, end-financing to bridging to land financing) to ensure a more balanced systems loans growth.”

Kenanga Research also opined that as a result, property developers can continue to grab greater market share and chalk-up high sales, although it expected Malaysia's overall residential transaction value growth to be relatively unexciting at 5% year-on-year.

It was noted that despite the tighter lending criteria, Malaysia's total residential transaction values have remained stable in the first quarter of this year.

It said buying interest remained strong, due to residential property buyers hedging against inflation and the lack of alternative investments, but this will be reigned in by more prudent lending criteria and the banking system's fear of real-estate tightening measures such as higher real property gains tax.

By THOMAS HUONG huong@thestar.com.my/Asia News Network

China unveils ambitious space projects, to probe black holes, search for aliens...

BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- China will launch several space projects, including a hard X-ray telescope for black hole studies, between 2014 and 2016, according to a senior Chinese astronomer.

Su Dingqiang, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and former president of the Chinese Astronomical Society, revealed some details regarding the hard x-ray modulation telescope (HXMT), China's first space telescope, on Tuesday at the opening ceremony of the International Astronomical Union (IAU)'s 28th General Assembly.

The hard X-ray band is a key waveband for high-energy astrophysics studies. Hard X-rays originate mostly from regions close to black holes and have high penetrative power, making them important tools for studying physical processes in extreme conditions, such as high matter density and high energy density.

Su said China will develop another satellite, the dark matter particle explorer (DAMPE), to help detect high-energy electrons and gamma rays, as well as a telescope to study the solar magnetic field and a Sino-French joint mission to study gamma ray bursts.

Su said Chinese scientists are also planning to establish an Antarctic astronomical observatory.

Cui Xiangqun, an academic at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and president of the Chinese Astronomical Society, said a lot of work has been done to gain experience for the future construction of an observatory in the Antarctic.

An Antarctic Survey Telescope (AST) was installed there at the beginning of the year and another AST will be installed in 2013, said Cui. China's first Antarctic telescope was installed in 2009.

"We can only send scientists there once a year and each time they can stay no more than three weeks. These telescopes help us detect problems via remote control," Cui said.

"Some of the technological problems we face there are similar to those in space, like low temperatures," Cui said.

However, Cui was optimistic about the Antarctic facility. "It has drier air, better visibility and fewer background disturbances. Its turbulent boundary layer is closer to the ground compared to other sites on the ice slope," she said while describing the area near the telescope.

Chinese space exploration has developed rapidly in the past decade. Some large-scale astronomical projects in China, including the Large Sky Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) completed in 2008 and the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) to be completed in 2016, have drawn global attention.

The ongoing conference, the first of its size to be held in China, is itself a historic occasion for the country.

"China's technology has advanced markedly, and some of its buildings are really world-class. The fact that we are meeting here is an indication that China has emerged in a short period of time to be competitive on the world stage in the science of astronomy," said Robert Williams, IAU president.

By Xinhua writers 
Quan Xiaoshu, Yu Fei, Li Huizi and Ji Shaoting

 

China to probe black holes, search for aliens

Look out space, the Chinese are coming...

By Phil Muncaster 

Posted in Science, 23rd August 2012  Newscribe : get free news in real time

China will ramp up its space exploration plans from 2014, with shiny new kit to probe black holes, study dark matter and search for signs of alien life, according to one of the country’s top astro-boffins.

Su Dingqiang, former president of the Chinese Astronomical Society and member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, revealed the plans to local media at the opening ceremony of the International Astronomical Union (IAU)'s 28th General Assembly on Tuesday.

He said that a hard x-ray modulation telescope (HXMT), currently under construction, will be sent into orbit around the Earth between 2014 and 2016 using a Ziyuan II satellite, according to Xinhua.
The HXMT project web site has the following on the telescope:

Hard X-ray band is a key waveband for high energy astrophysics study. Exploring various kinds of black holes is a major frontier of physics and astronomy in the new century. Hard X-rays originate mostly from regions closest to black holes and are highly penetrative, and are therefore important tools for studying the physical processes in the extreme conditions such as high matter density, high energy density, high electric-magnetic field, and high gravitational field.

Also planned is a dark matter particle explorer (DAMPE), expected to be launched by 2015, as well as a telescope to study the solar magnetic field and a joint project with France to study gamma ray bursts, the report said.

Always striving to be the biggest and best on Earth, China is also set to complete the world’s largest radio telescope in 2016.

The 500-metre aperture single dish giant is being built in in Guizhou province, southern China, at a cost of over 700 million yuan (£69.3m).

It’s designed to be three times more sensitive than the current world record holder, meaning that it should be able to see further into space than ever before.

For the record, it will supplant the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico – known to Bond fans as the setting for the climax of Brosnan flick Goldeneye – as the world’s largest and most sensitive single aperture telescope. ®

Why Malaysian Evidence Act Section 114A should be repealed

Continued opposition to this piece of legislation may yet result in it being taken off the statute books.

THE recent amendment to the Evidence Act with the insertion of Section 114(A) basically presumes that a person who is depicted in a publication as owner or administrator is presumed to have published the contents.

This effectively means that those named in publications are presumed guilty of any offending content that may be posted, including those on the Internet where there is no licensing and it is easy to use some other person’s name, photograph and details as the originator.

This presumption of guilt, requiring the accused to prove his innocence, instead of the prosecution having to prove his guilt, is a strange reversal of the rule of law when the entire justice system is based on the assumption of innocence unless guilt is proven.

It is stranger still coming in the wake of moves to liberalise draconian laws such as the Internal Security Act which provided for detention without trial, and the Universities and University Colleges Act which severely curtailed the rights of students to participate in the political process.

When there is such liberalisation taking place, it is strange that the Government should be setting the clock back by introducing legislation that goes clearly against the grain of justice.

Yes, the Internet space is a raucous one and lots of stuff are pasted and posted, and people, including many in the Government, the Cabinet and the Opposition, are regularly blasted for things that they may or may not have done.

But there are laws to deal with them such as the defamation laws. And some of the victims have sought recourse to these with visible success, which includes Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.

Why, therefore, should a sledgehammer be given to prosecutors to bring a tonne of weight down indiscriminately on people who may not have committed the offence, but may have a tough time proving that they had not and may become involved in tangled knots with the law for a long time?

Conspiracy theorists, of whom a lot exist in this country due to the nature of the way things are, have immediately seen this as a move to limit criticism. That’s hardly a PR effort by the Government.

When the Centre for Independent Journalism organised an Internet blackout on Aug 14, it met with a tremendous response and many people just did not post anything on the Net during that particular day.

Such support must have had an effect on the decision of the Prime Minister to call upon the Cabinet to review its decision to pass the amendment to the relevant Act.

“Whatever we do we must put the people first,” the PM had tweeted, and who can disagree with that?

But unfortunately, the Cabinet stuck to its guns and backed its previous decision.

Dr Rais said the Cabinet discussed it exhaustively and decided not to make any changes because Parliament was represented by the ruling party and the Opposition and had debated it.

“Once it is officially passed, to do something now is an afterthought,” he said.

Dr Rais added that the Law Minister would explain further.

Later, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the controversial amendment would be explained further by the Attorney-General.

“If explained properly, I believe right-thinking people will know why the amendment was tabled in Parliament and approved. If there still are fears, laws can also be tweaked, amended and abolished, but don’t get emotional about it,” he said.

Those interested will wait for the Government explanation, although Dr Rais had already said that presumption of fact was nothing new in law and there was still room for accused persons to defend themselves.

The converse position is that such a law can be abused.

Those who want to “fix” someone on the Net can post comments and claim that it came from that particular person. And that person will be tied up in knots trying to defend himself.

That is the main fear among Internet users and other publishers.

Inordinate power is in the hands of prosecutors who now don’t have to prove who the real publishers are.

The question is why grant them these additional powers under the amendment when the entire Internet is subject to the laws of the country?

The only difference is that there is no licensing of the Internet compared to conventional media such as print and broadcasting.

Thus, the new laws are seen as a move to bring the Internet under control more quickly than using existing laws, a move which the disinterested would oppose.

Policymakers may actually realise that. As seen by the quote from the Home Minister above, if there is continued strong opposition to the amendment, it could be repealed.

Perhaps it may need another tweet from the Prime Minister to make that happen, and this time he will be at that Cabinet meeting.

That should make a difference to what the Cabinet may think.

Question Time By P. Gunasegaram

> Like most people, P Gunasegaram can’t stand presumptuous people.

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Malaysian education is too Western-centric, ignorance of Asian values, etc!

A Merdeka of the mind

Our education is too Western-centric, aping Western universities and showing ignorance of Asian and African contributions to knowledge.

AS we celebrate 55 years of political independence, we may note the blessings of peace and prosperity in our beloved land. But we also need to reflect on some unfulfilled dimensions of independence.

If independence is autonomy or freedom from the control of another nation, then we Malaysians are hardly free.

The basic assumptions of our political, economic and educational systems are dictated by Western, especially Anglo-American, hegemony. Politically we are free but enslavement of the mind has hardly ceased.

A slave mentality or Western/Euro-centrism need not be a conscious option. It is rooted in our psychology of dependence on, and blind reverence for, everything Western.

Syed Hussein Alatas calls it “the captive mind”. For Ward Churchill, modern intellectual discourse and higher education are “White Studies”.

Hundreds of years ago, the coloniser seized not only land but minds, monopolising information sources and undermining indigenous know­ledge.

For Frantz Fanon, the colonised was “elevated above his jungle status in proportion to his adoption of the mother country’s cultural standards”.

Ngugi wa Thiong says “it is the final triumph of a system of domination, when the dominated start singing its virtues”.

So 55 years after independence, our public figures are still enamoured with the colonial tune. Their intellectual discourses have three tendencies.

First, the Western worldview and its assumptions are blindly aped. Second, we are ignorant of Asian and African roots of knowledge and Eastern contributions to civilisation. Third, there is hardly any critique of Western theories in the light of our own realities.

Take Western-centrism in our educational institutions. Yusef Progler finds that in whatever field of study, a course in most Asian and African universities follows a similar path.

“It will first identify the great white European or American men of each discipline and then drill their theories and practices as if these were universal”, while ignoring knowledge from other civilisations.

Government recognition of foreign degrees is skewed in favour of Anglo-American awards. Eminent citadels of learning in Asia and Africa are largely ignored.

The favoured destination for JPA-sponsored postgraduate scholars is Europe or the United States. The external examiners and visiting professors are mostly from Britain, the US or Australia. Asian scholars are generally excluded from such honours or offered lesser terms.

Intellectual grovelling before Western experts remains as deeply ingrained as during the British Raj. A few years ago, Cherie Blair was invited to lead the arguments in a case before our courts even when scores of eminent local lawyers were available.

In any prestigious lecture series, the guest of honour is invariably a Westerner, sometimes of dubious credentials. For example, Tony Blair was invited by a local NGO to deliver a lecture.

But when Mugabe and Bashar were scheduled to come, concern was expressed, and rightly so. The crimes of Western leaders may be ignored, but we jump up to take a principled stand against Asian and African miscreants.

Our legal system remains British-oriented. In the English fashion of Austinian positivism, the concept of law is tied to the commands of the political sovereign even though most Asians and Africans regard religion and custom as part of the seamless web of the law.

The Civil Law Act continues its worship of outdated British precedents even though we have greater affinity with many other constitutional systems like India’s.

The Legal Profession Act continues to permit British graduates to be called to the Malaysian Bar without undergoing a bridging course. A key component of the course should be a study of the Malaysian Consti­tution.

In our law faculties, legal education is as much a colonial construct as during the Raj. The course structure and content, the book list and the icons are mostly Western.

A typical course on jurisprudence in Malaysia often begins with Plato, Aristotle, Locke, Bentham, Pound, Weber, Ehrlich, Durkheim, Marx, etc.

The Mahabharata, the Arthashastra, the Book of Mencius, the Analects of Confucius and the treatises of Ghazali, Ibn Rushd, Jose Rizal, Benoy Kumar Sarkar, Yanagita Kunio and Naquib al-Attas are not included.

Chinese, Indian and Persian universities predated European ones and provided paradigms for early Western education. Yet our universities ignore centuries of enlightenment in China, India, Japan, Persia and West Asia.

It is as if all things good and wholesome originated with Western civilisation and the East was, and is, an intellectual desert. The truth is other­wise.

In science, Galileo, Newton and Einstein illuminated the firmament but not much is known about Al-hazen and Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. Western chemistry was preceded by Eastern alchemy, algebra had African roots.

The philosophy of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, Sartre and Goethe can be matched by Ghazali, Ibn Rushd, Mulla Sadra, Shenhui, al-Mutanabbi and Kalidasa. Durkheim’s and Weber’s sociology must compete with Ibn Khaldun’s.

Freudian psychology had its corrective in Buddhist wisdom. The Cartesian medical model has its Eastern counterpart in ayurvedic, unani and herbal methods.

Very few know that Arab Muslims were central to the making of medieval Europe.

A slavish mimicking of Western norms of government, law and economics prevents us from tackling our own problems like poverty and unsustainable development.

Our attitude leaves us vulnerable to many predatory policies of Western-dominated institutions and processes. Transnational corporations dominate our economies.

Many Asian and African nations choke under the debt stranglehold. The West can bring down our economies with currency speculation, hedge funds, piracy of indigenous resources and trade boycotts as new forms of tyranny.

Yet we are too scared or ashamed to express our own views. Basing our life on other nations’ opinions is slavery.

As Aug 31 approaches, we must resolve to free our minds from Western intellectual hegemony. A Merdeka of the mind will put us on the path to that.

Comment
Prof Shad Saleem Faruqi
> The author wishes all readers Salam Lebaran and Salam Kemerdekaan.

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