By SHAZNI ONG / Pic By ioiproperties.com.my

IOI Properties Group Bhd expects the property market to recover from the overhang situation due to a pickup in buyer interest and sales.

Its chief sales and marketing officer Jason Tie said the optimism is based on the group’s sales following its participation in the Malaysia Property Expo last month, in conjunction with the Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) 2019.

“We saw sales picking up and received a lot of bookings (during the campaign). We also see the market responding to it. It might be a bit slow but is very encouraging,” he told reporters at the media preview of The Clio 2 Residences in Putrajaya yesterday.

The HOC 2019 aims to help clear unsold residential property across the country.

“In our case, we do not have much inventory, but we are in a manageable situation,” Tie added.

According to a report by the National Property Information Centre, there is a overhang in the market especially in the category with price range of RM300,000 and below.

Tie said the group expects to launch at least three projects this year including The Clio 2 Residences.

IOI Properties currently has several domestic property developments in Selangor, Penang, Negri Sembilan and Johor, and projects in China and Singapore.

Its property investment portfolios include shopping mall, hotel, leisure and office.

The Clio 2 Residences project has a gross development value of RM300 million, comprising 550 units tri- towers serviced apartments and is part of the 788 acre (318.9ha) IOI Resort City. The project is slated for completion in the third quarter of next year.

Registration is open for the first block (Block A) which consists of a 23-storey block. It is a low density development with every floor having only eight units.

IOI Properties sales and marketing manager Alex Eng said response from pre-registration has been encouraging.

“We have started pre-booking already. We are now in the second week into the pre-booking and managed to gather 40 pre-bookings (so far),” he said.

“We have seen a lot of first-time homebuyers, young executives and young families. We expect that to continue as well to make up all our residences,” he said.

The Clio 2 Residences is expected to be launched in May 2019, with a three-bedroom unit starting from RM492,000. The built-up range is from 829 sq ft to 1,216 sq ft (112.97 sq m).