Kind of Business

At the Property Market Outlook for 2011 last week, Malaysia’s Valuation & Property Services Department released the figure that a total of 342,179 property transactions worth RM96.77bil were recorded between January and November last year, which means the full year’s transactions could reach the RM100bil mark. This is the first time transactions value has reached this figure. The event was organised by the Association of Valuers, Property Managers, Estate Agents and Property Consultants in the Private Sector.

In view of this development as well as considering Malaysians penchant for property investments, it was unlikely that property values would fall again in the near future. It may not rise as much as last year, but the uptrend is there. The property value rose between 30% and 40% last year. This is the first time property went up so much there was never such record growth for the property market in 30 years.

On average, the price of the condominium rise between 60% and 100% between 2003 & 2008. The condominium market in comparison to the rise in value of landed properties which rose as high as 40% in just one year. Hence, on average the rise in condominium prices is about 20% per annum. In Kuala Lumpur alone, the capital city recorded more condominiums changing hands, 10,333 units vs. terraced housing at 3,756 units. Nevertheless, terraced houses still dominating in the property market, especially in Selangor with 27,165 transactions, Johor with 12,555 transactions and Penang 4,358 transactions.

On the outlook of the Malaysian economy and the Malaysian property market, it was very significant that the transaction volume between the 11-month period increased 12.2% year-on-year, but the value of transactions increased at a higher rate of 35% from RM71.67bil to RM96.77bil. The economy recovery in Malaysian has stimulated the overall property market.

With regards to the lending market for property sector, the purchase of residential property made up the majority of bank loan, at 58.8% compared with the purchase of non-residential property, at 22.1%. The remaining 19.1% attributed to Construction sector and other sectors.

Credit expansion for the property market leaped from RM342.09bil as at the end of September 2009 to RM391.25bil as at end-September 2010. In other words, the residential property sub-sector is still the main mover of the market. In this residential market, transactions in Kuala Lumpur recorded a growth of 8.2%, Selangor 7.2%, Johor 3.6% and Penang (island) 9.7%.

In conclusion, 2011 is a good year Malaysia property market. The potential is great and hence, serious investors should seize the opportunity to earn some money from the property investment.

With 2012 officially beginning, political pundits and voters alike are turning their attention to the presidential campaign approaching in November. Incumbent Barack Obama has already declared that he will run for a second term. With Obama’s approval through the Democratic primaries all but certain, political aficionados have taken interest in what the Republicans will need to do to beat him.

Obama has had an up-and-down presidency thus far in the eyes of the voters. In January of 2009, after taking office, Obama stood at 69% approval. Since then, his approval rating has been on a steady decline. It isn’t uncommon, however, for a president to see his or her highest approval rating just after inauguration. After experiencing his lowest approval ratings in the second half of 2011 (38% in August and October), Obama has rebounded. A December 2011 Gallup Poll saw his approval rating at 47%. Many political analysts believe that an incumbent must have around a 48% approval rating to carry a campaign to re-election.

The Economy

One of the more difficult issues Obama has had to deal with during his presidency is the economy. When Obama took office, the United States was in the midst of a recession. In fact, much of the politics surrounding the presidential election of 2008 centered on how to bring the winning candidate would bring the country out of the economic hardship facing so many of its citizens.

The recession ended in June of 2009, allowing Obama to make good on one of his campaign promises. At the end of 2011, however, much of the voting population still feels the pinch of difficult economic times. Thus, Obama will be pressured in 2012 by Republican candidates who promise to change the economic landscape. If their rhetoric can be convincing enough, the Republicans may be able to draw some undecided voters over to their side.

The Candidates

Besides the economy, it seems like the biggest determining factor in the 2012 election will be who the Republicans choose to run for them. The pool of candidates as of the beginning of 2012 has some political analysts suggesting the Republicans may be limited in their ability to unseat Barack Obama due to the lack of a competitive candidate.

The front-runner at this point for the Republicans is Mitt Romney. Romney is the former governor of Massachusetts, and made a run for the presidency during the 2008 election. He eventually conceded the Republican nomination to John McCain, however. While Romney is an articulate and charismatic politician, his voting history has been a bit too liberal for the tastes of conservatives. Romney championed health care legislation while Governor of Massachusetts that appeared to help set the precedent for Obama’s sweeping health care reform. Earlier in his career, Romney also was expressly pro-choice, another fact that doesn’t sit well with Republicans.

If Romney wins the Republican Primaries, will he be conservative enough to garner the full support of the Republican voting populace? If not, Obama will likely run away with his bid for re-election. Despite some ups and downs in approval ratings and coming into office during a recession, Republicans will have a difficult time wrestling away the office from Obama unless they end up with a candidate that will invigorate the electorate. Romney, however, doesn’t seem to be that person.

Illegal immigration effect on economy is indeed dismal and has many negative aspects on society. Illegal immigrants cause a lot of damage to the United States and most Americans are not aware of the harm they cause. The list of how they negatively impact the US can go on for miles, but only a small few will be briefly discussed.

The public schools are one way that illegal immigration effect on economy is awful. Educating illegal aliens is costing Americans millions of dollars each year and is putting the public school system in crises. With just legal American parents placing their children is school; the school system would be fine because they all pay their taxes which helps support the school. But more and more illegal aliens are pouring into the country, placing their children in school, and not paying any taxes. This causes the enrollment to up as requiring more money to maintain and yet the tax money that pays for the education stays the same.

The end result is a huge drain on the entire school system. This is because there is no longer enough money to continue to support everyone. They are now cutting school programs that there is no budget for. Teachers are being let go because paying their salaries are no longer in the budget. So, as the class size increases, the teachers available to teach the children decrease. This results in a poor education for the children.

Jobs are another way that illegal immigration effect on economy is bad. Illegal immigrants come over to the United States on a consistent basis looking for work. They seek out jobs which they can blend into without having to provide an ID. These jobs are usually hard labor, lower end jobs. This is a huge problem because in doing this they are taking the jobs away from Americans that could get that job. Every job an illegal alien obtains, is a job that us stolen from an American.

Another area that illegal aliens affect the economy is in the section of health care. A law was passed, the federal Emergency Medical Act, which explained that a hospital emergency room had to treat all people seeking their services, which includes illegal aliens. This is placing a sever strain on many hospitals because they have to pay for illegal aliens health bills on an overwhelming basis which they do not receive any payments for in return. This fact alone is causing many emergency rooms to close their doors. Another disturbing thing because of this is that Americans are now being denied health care or they have to wait in long lines, all because there is no money left after paying for illegal aliens.

An additional way illegal immigration effect on the economy is bad is through anchor babies. Simply put, an anchor baby is a baby that given birth on US soil whose parents are illegal aliens. All they have to do to get a complete free ride courtesy of the taxpayers is to tell the nurse when delivering her baby that they are here illegally. This is due to a law that states anyone born on US land is a US citizen.

A further way the illegal aliens are affecting the economy us through crime. Once they arrive in America, they must learn how to avoid detection in order for them to do anything here. However, avoiding detection usually calls for them to break the law. They steal social security numbers, they engage in identity theft, they drive without a license, and they evade paying taxes. They also commit more serious offenses such as murder, sex crimes, and drug possession and distribution.

As more and more illegal aliens flood the US borders, the US taxpayer’s costs are rising just so we can support them living here illegally. Illegal immigration effect on the economy is saddening. Our education system is failing just to make room for the illegal aliens children. Many jobs are being taken away from US citizens, making the unemployment rates go up. They receive free health care that is causing many emergency rooms to go bankrupt. Illegal aliens are coming to the United States to have their children so they can get a free ride while the tax payers foot their bill. They continually break the law but it is always overlooked. L ask you, how much longer are we going to support people who a re creating a huge deficit in our economy?