PROPERTY developer Binaik Equity Bhd is looking for suitable land within the Klang Valley and nearby localities.

Managing director Yeo Soo Sia said it was only natural for the Johor-based company to expand to the Klang Valley as it was still the best spot for property developers, with a lucrative market and higher take-up rate among buyers compared with other places.

''Although we do not have any time frame to expand to the central region, the sooner the better,'' Yeo told StarBiz after the company AGM on Tuesday.

He admitted that it was not that easy to get strategically located land within the area.

Yeo said the company would be cautious in its expansion, considering it was a new player in the Klang Valley property market.

''This also applies to property players from outside Johor who want to set up operations in the state,'' he added.

Yeo said word-of-mouth advertising was effective in the property market as buyers had more confidence if someone they knew bought a house from a particular developer.

He said the company would be launching a new mixed development project on a 1,000-acre site next to the Pulai Springs Golf and Leisure Resort at Jalan Pontian Lama.

Phase one would see the development of between 400 and 500 residential houses, priced above RM200,000 each.

''The area is booming with several on-going projects and buyers are attracted to places where others have already settled,'' Yeo pointed out.

For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2003, Binaik recorded RM83.575mil turnover against RM89.577mil previously, while pre-tax profit declined to RM17.436mil from RM29.913mil in 2002.

Source : The Star  1/7/2004