Business Times (Malaysia): Shell ops will boost rentals in Miri: “RENTALS for houses in Miri, especially in the higher-end category, are expected to jump significantly this year after the area was designated as Shell Group’s Asia Pacific exploration hub and Shell Malaysia’s upstream base. The status is expected to see an influx of Shell Malaysia staff and contractors into Miri.” (ShellNews.net) 19 March 05

By SULOK TAWIE

March 19 2005

RENTALS for houses in Miri, especially in the higher-end category, are expected to jump significantly this year after the area was designated as Shell Group’s Asia Pacific exploration hub and Shell Malaysia’s upstream base.

The status is expected to see an influx of Shell Malaysia staff and contractors into Miri.

The rent for a fully-furnished semi-detached unit has shot up from RM1,000 to RM3,500 per month in areas around the Shell refineries in Miri, early this year.

“We are expecting the rents to go even higher than this,” Wong Ing Siong, managing director of C H Williams Tahar Wong & Yeo Sdn Bhd of Sarawak, told reporters when presenting a report on the Sarawak Property Market 2005 in Kuching yesterday.

Another factor that could push the housing demands in Miri is the elevation of Miri to a City status on May 20 this year and the development of Miri into a resort city.

The student intake by Curtin University Sarawak Campus is also expected to push up demand for houses, Wong said.

Wong said he expected rentals for high-end houses to rise even in other major towns of Sarawak.

“I expect the rentals for these houses to go up further this year, with an average of 10 per cent increase. This is based on the increases over the last 10 years,” he added.

Meanwhile, the long term demand for urban housing in Sarawak is expected to remain strong due to the favourable enabling factors.

Wong said the state’s strong population growth, increase in the number of households and rural-urban migration are expected to push the demand for the houses in the urban centres.

He said other factors are the high employment rate, increasing household income, easy credit and cheap end financing.

Wong said private developers holding large landbank or having good track records are the key players in the supply of new housing in Sarawak.

He said nine major developers controlled 40 per cent of the housing supply in Sarawak.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/BTimes/Saturday/Corporate/20050319015726/Article/ 

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