Lure of Penang sees spike in property prices

GEORGE TOWN: The scarcity of land on Penang island and its lure as a tourist destination and a second home for foreign retirees have caused residential property prices to soar by more than 25% over the past five years.

According to real estate valuers, the prices are among the highest in Malaysia, which is why the Consumers Association of Penang claimed that only the rich could live on the island a world heritage city.

A survey by The Star revealed that condominium units in Batu Ferringhi, Tanjung Bungah and Gurney Drive which front the sea are being sold at astronomical prices, in some cases beginning with RM2mil for a 1,000 sq ft unit.

Crowded skyline: High-rise buildings dot Gurney Drive, which was once a sedate, low-density area where locals came to relax. — K.T. GOH / The Star

Even pre-war houses in the inner city for example, in Campbell Street have been snapped up mostly by non-Penangites, who have turned them into boutique hotels or simply kept them because of their architectural beauty.

The prices of the houses have rocketed from about RM500,000 in 2007 to approximately RM800,000 today an increase of about 30%.

Raine & Horne Malaysia director Michael Geh said the increase was among the steepest in the Pulau Tikus, Gurney Drive, Tanjung Tokong, and Tanjung Bungah residential neighbourhoods, which experienced a rise of over 25% in prices of condominium units.

Other areas where prices of condominium units and terrace and semi-detached houses have shot up by at least 25% are Bayan Baru, Sungai Ara, Minden Heights and Batu Maung.

The medium-range housing schemes in George Town neighbourhoods of Perak Road, MacCallum Street, Burmah Road, Jelutong Road and Sungai Pinang have not been spared.

“These have seen over a 25% increase in prices over the past five years,” Geh said.

An apartment located in such a neighbourhood cost RM180,000 in 2007 but is now RM250,000,

Geh said the rise in property prices had driven many people to buy homes in Seberang Prai, where property prices are a third of those on the island.

“But we are seeing property prices on the mainland rising as well,” he added.

An apartment in Butterworth town is now selling for RM250,000, compared to RM180,000 five years ago, while a terrace house now costs RM500,000, compared to RM300,000 in 2007.

Mushroo ming buildings : A file picture showing Penang’s Gurney Drive in 2008. Many high-rise projects have sprouted there since.

Given the rise of raw materials prices and the scarcity of land, property prices in Penang were expected to continue rising, Geh added.

Meanwhile, Penang Barisan Nasional chairman Teng Chang Yeow said there were only one or two major hillslope projects during the previous administration. Now, there were hillslope projects all over the island.

He said the present guidelines on hillslope development were adequate, but the state government should be more stringent in enforcing them.- The Star/Asia News Network

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Sexy Advertising On the Rise

Magazine ads are becoming bolder. CREDIT: StockLite, Shutterstock View full size image

Don't blush, but chances are the magazines you read are getting sexier.

Sexy advertisements are up in magazines from Playboy to Time and Newsweek to Esquire, according to new research from the University of Georgia. Since 1983, the percent of ads using sex to sell products rose from 15 percent to 27 percent by 2003.

Though sexual imagery is used to sell almost everything, even banking services, the bulk of the increase has come in ads for impulse buys: alcohol, entertainment, beauty supplies. These products have long clung to the "sex sells" maxim, said study researcher Tom Reichert, a professor of advertising and public relations at the University of Georgia.

"Advertisers use sex because it can be very effective," Reichert said in a statement. (Past research has suggested, however, that sex doesn't sell to female readers, with sensual advertising images leaving women bored and uninterested.)

Sex sells

Reichert and his colleagues analyzed 3,232 ads published between 1983 and 2003 in six magazines: Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Esquire, Playboy, Newsweek and Time. These magazines were chosen because they have large circulations, include titles that appeal to both men and women, and because they have been included in past studies, allowing for easy comparison across time.

About half of the advertisements included models. Researchers analyzed these ads based on how sexily the models were dressed and whether they were engaging in physical contact, such as kissing or simulated sex, with another model. [Sex Quix: Myths, Taboos & Bizarre Facts]

The ads for health and hygiene products were the sexiest of all ads, with 38 percent containing sexual imagery across the three-decade study period. Beauty came in second, at 36 percent. Drugs and medications, which include weight-loss supplements, came in third with 29 percent of ads containing sexy models.

Just more than a quarter, or 27 percent, of clothing ads showed sex appeal during the study period, compared with 23 percent of travel ads and 21 percent of entertainment ads.

The overall uptick in sexiness was driven by increasingly sex-obsessed ads for alcohol, entertainment and beauty products. In 1983, only 9 percent of alcohol ads used sex to sell booze. Today, that number stands at 37 percent. Sexually arousing entertainment ads increased from 10 percent in 1983 to 33 percent today, and 51 percent of beauty ads now include sexiness, compared with 23 percent in 1983.

Modeling sexuality

Women are overwhelmingly the vehicles by which advertisers portray sexuality, the researchers found. That trend has held for three decades. In 1983, 11 percent of all advertisements contained sexy women, and only 3 percent contained sexy men. As of 2003, 22 percent of ads included sexy ladies, while only 6 percent featured smoldering hunks.

Sexy images popped up in odd places, including in 5 percent of advertisements for financial products in 2003. But for the most part, advertisers use sex to sell products that people might buy on a whim, such as a new flavor of vodka or a papaya-scented lotion. Only two categories — charities and computer companies — never used sex in their ads in this sample.

"Sex is not as effective when selling high-risk, informational products such as banking services, appliances and utility trucks," Reichert said.

The researchers reported their results online in May in the Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising

By Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer
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Sexy Advertising On the Rise