Property Malaysia

Next week, we’re officially into the second quarter of 2007. In March, we had managed to include 5 projects, listed below. As usual, we’ve updated the Projects Reviews page.

Cahaya Permai Apartments, Seri Kembangan
Pertama Residency Designer Suites, Cheras
Calisa Residences, Taman Mas Sepang
Ametis Terraces, Bandar Bukit Puchong 2
Ara Hill, Ara Damansara

Btw, have you all filed your taxes?

This is the latest launch by The Equine Group in the sub-development called Pusat Bandar Putra Permai, which forms part of the larger Taman Equine-Permai Park-Putra Permai area. In recent years, this area has seen some sort of a boom in terms of development, helped on by the opening of AEON’s Jusco mall some time in June last year. Long before that, Pasar Borong Selangor was opened to become the first landmark of the area. Lots of development have benefited from this upsurge in interest, some of them reviewed by us here:

Alam Sanctuary
Sovereign, Permai Park
Bayan Villa, Bukit Ikhlas
Taman Dato Demang: Phase 1
Taman Dato Demang: Phase 3

On their part, the Equine Group looks pretty much the driving force in changing this area from the undeveloped forest into the area that it is. Not only are they the biggest here, they’ve also put in a lot of thought into the amenities that ups the value of their homes – like the Permai Central Transportation Hub, Bazaar Rakyat PKPS, The Equestrian Academy, The Festive Market Drive Thru Mall and Alice Smith International School.

Cahaya Permai is located in Permai Square on the southern side of the main road leading to Seri Kembangan. Here’s where most of the amenities are, and since they’ve opened up the main junction right in front of Jusco, you don’t need to go further up to make a cumbersome U-turn. But this is going to be a very busy junction in the near future, for sure.

Anyway, Cahaya Permai is set on a high ground, overlooking the whole valley where thousands of houses have been built (and are being built). On one side is the complete shop offices called Permai Square (the first of two phases). On the rear is Prima Tropika and Alam Sanctuary, both developments of nice linkhomes.

Cahaya Permai has 4 blocks of apartments, but for this maiden launch, there are 2 open for sale, altogether 300 units. There are 14 units per floor, and they either face north or south, pool view or non-pool view. The units are arranged in such a way that there are two corner units extending out of the facade at both ends, however these units don’t have windows on the reverse side, so you don’t have that extra view.

The ground floor is used for the common facilities, and the pool and playground occupies the space between the two blocks. Around this area are surface parking bays for residents, some covered and some not (as to why that is, we’ll come to that shortly). The whole area has perimeter fencing and guardhouse checkpoint, plus with area much higher than the road level outside, there is the added perception of relative security. In terms of facilities, it is somewhat adequate for this price bracket, plus with the shops and amenities around Cahaya Permai, it is understandable.

There is only one type of unit at one standard price - it’s the same whether you buy on the first floor or the top floor. The layout is pretty standard 850sq.ft. 3-bedroom 2 baths, quite alike a lot of other places. The standard price is RM100k, but the basic unit has some very minimal finishing, you might even call it subpar. For example, the bathroom tiles go up only to 5′ high, and the balcony isn’t tiled. Here’s the catch, for RM17k extra, you can opt for the upgrade package, which includes a lot of other stuff, like full wall tiles, balcony tiles, covered parking spot (as opposed to the uncovered one), ceiling fan units, etc. The way they’ve made it to force your hand to choose the upgrade package, unless you’re inclined to go through the hassle of renovating it by yourself. We can see that most people will opt for the upgrade package, especially if you want to attract the renters.

We liked Cahaya Permai. Buying an apartment in this area looks like a good investment, and if you’re looking for one, Equine is a reputable developer, considering the competition here. Location is excellent too, but some residents here are beginning to show concerns of the heavy traffic, especially when more of the newer landed phases are occupied. There is talk of an interchange to be built at Jusco, but no date has been fixed.

The land is leasehold, with limited number of years remaining.

We know this has nothing to do with Malaysian property either, but since it’s a slow Monday morning, might as well…

Dutch architectural firm OMA is designing an office tower for the Far East Organization, a company some Malaysians are familiar with. The tower, a free standing gravity defying structure, will be called Scott’s Tower, situated near Orchard Road.

The 153 meter tall tower will be located at the intersection of Scotts Road and Cairnhill Road, in close proximity to Orchard Road, Singapore’s famous shopping and lifestyle street. With 20,000m² of built floor area, the building will provide 68 high-end apartment units with panoramic views. The design strategically maneuvers within the highly regulated building environment to maximize the full potential of the site: Four individual apartment towers are vertically offset from one another and suspended from a central core.

No kidding. I bet the price per square foot is going to be a LOT higher than the RM450psf you get in Mont’Kiara… let’s not even talk about the maintenance fees…

Read all about it here.

Not an April’s Fool joke. Check it out here.

Malaysia to scrap property gains tax from April 1

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will scrap capital gains tax on property deals from April 1, the prime minister said Thursday as he announced a slew of pro-investment programmes and incentives in a bid to boost the economy.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said he hoped the decision would “inject more excitement and dynamism in both the property and financial sectors.'’

“Potential that has gone unrealized or under-optimized will be turned into new industries and businesses, new value creation and new jobs,'’ he said in a speech at a conference of local and foreign fund managers, and heads of some of Malaysia’s biggest companies.

The Malaysian property market is currently believed to be stagnating, and considered undervalued compared to other countries in the region, especially Singapore.

Abolishing the property gains tax would encourage investment and deals and bring more liquidity into the market.

“Going forward to further improve the national property sector, the government has decided not to impose real property gains tax throughout the country commencing 1st April, 2007,'’ Abdullah said.

All those uncles and datuks with dozens of property investments should be rejoicing, then?

An annual survey carried out by Employment Conditions Abroad Limited, ranks the 254 cities in terms of ‘liveability’. (?) This was picked up by some of the local papers (here).

This company is “a human resource consultant agency, is based on weather, air quality, infrastructure, health services, housing, security and politics. ”

Anyway, the top ten is like this:

1. Singapore
2. Kobe
3. Tokyo and Osaka tied in third position.
5. Hong Kong
6. Macao
7. Taipei
8. Bangkok
9. Kuala Lumpur
10. Penang

Very subjective if you ask me, but anyway, lots of people will disagree i suppose.

The non-liveable cities in Asia are Karachi, Pyongyang, Islamabad, Dhaka and Dili.

Let’s take another short break from Malaysian property. This site, HomeAway, gives the Top Ten Most Expensive Vacation Homes in the World.

1. Nassau & Paradise Island - USD$35,000 to $40,000/day
2. Boca Raton, Florida - USD$12,000/day
3. St. Maarten/Saint Martin - USD$42,000 to $68,000/week
4. Baja California Sur, Mexico - USD$37,800 to $42,000/week
5. St. James, Barbados - USD$30,000 to $40,000/week
6. Cabrera, Dominican Republic - USD$35,000/week
7. Mustique, St. Vincent & The Grenadines - USD$5,000/night
8. Marbella, Spain - USD$32,200/week
9. Cannes, France - USD$31,000/week
10. Port Antonio, Jamaica - $28000/week

Kinda puts that RM200 weekend stay in Langkawi in perspective, doesn’t it?

This project will be officially launched tomorrow, but units are available during the current soft launch. Actually judging from MAPEX last week, there are quite a few new condo launches in the Cheras area, and this is one of them. Usually Cheras is, well, you know, off the radar most people, given that it is such a matured market that is almost fully developed over the last 4 decades.

But now, quite a few developers are developing some the pockets of empty land which mostly have been left idle over the years, just like this piece. Some time back, there was a plan to build an office block, but now the developer has decided to go with the serviced apartment route. Location is easily recognizable, right at the junction of Jalan Loke Yew and Jalan Cheras, just next to the existing Shell station. It is also very near other Cheras landmarks like Leisure Mall, the Badminton Hall, Courts Mammoth and of course, Menara PGRM (where the sales office is located).

Pertama Residency is actually on a small plot of land. The ground floor is taken up by shops, which we mention before a trend that is getting more popular these days. Above the shopping mall, there are about 5 levels of parking bay, then a level of common facilities. After that there are 13 floors of apartments.

There are 312 units available here, with a massive 24 units per floor. But the concept here is that there is only one type of unit available, a small studio unit about 610sq.ft. There is an option of unit with balcony or without balcony, it is actually a very narrow balcony that isn’t really wide enough to do much. All units face one of two direction, facing KL or Cheras. You can guess which is more popular.

The units come fully furnished – perhaps one of the most completely done up we’ve seen so far. In fact, everything you see in the show unit is given together with the unit, except the loose decoration. What is given is the living & bedroom furniture, kitchen cabinets, plaster ceiling and lighting, two units of air-conditioning and all the fittings in the bathroom. We really liked the ID done to the place, you practically can pack only just your clothes in a suitcase and move in. Of course, all this is already priced into the unit, whether they call it ‘complimentary’ or ‘free’ or whatever.

The bathroom is exceptionally nice, with a touch of contemporary designs – the toilet is completely glass-walled (for the ultimate voyeuristic experience) and fittings are attractive, including the glass basin and jacuzzi. But anyway, different strokes for different folks.

There are larger penthouse units available, but we were told they’ve been sold out.

The common floor has a sky lounge bar, they kept telling us it’s quite lavish, and the usual common facilities that service apartments have.

The units start from RM179k onwards, which comes to about RM300psf inclusive of the furnishings. This is a bit on the high side, but we suppose you have to look at the location, with it’s close proximity to KLCC and Bukit Bintang, plus you are also paying for the furnishing. Which by the way, you have to take it, and unless you spend more money replacing it to suit your taste, you’ll have the exact looking unit as all your neighbours. Please also bear in mind the price does not include a parking bay, you have a choice of buying at (at a separate cost) or renting it. The third option is to fight for free parking along the road with hundreds of other folks.

Maintenance fee is 25sen psf, which is also on the high side for such a small building and facilities. With this kind of fee (RM150), people usually expect above average services and maintenance, so it better be.

For the time being, the developers are throwing a free TV for every purchase.

With the studio concept, they are obviously target the young, urban, mobile market, who are looking for convenience and proximity to the city. No clutter like families to fill the house. With this is mind, they made a decent product, and the response so far looks promising. We also like that it’s only 312 units, attracting both owners and investors alike. On the downside, no parking. Also, the pricing is expensive.

This is the first residential project for the developers, although they are active in developing commercial lots like USJ Nine19en and Digital Mall in Section 14 PJ.

This project was advertised some time before Chinese New Year, but no news was heard since then. Then one day we were in the area, we thought we would drop by for a visit.

But anyway, location first. At the end of the road where you’d find the following development:
Taman Putra Impiana
Taman Tasik Puchong
Taman Putra Prima
Taman Puchong Tekali

At the very end (it’s quite far in), until you see some shoplots in the middle of a clearing. This is Taman Mas Sepang. There are some existing linkhomes facing here, which are part of another development.

At the corner is the sales gallery. Calisa Residences is a few blocks of apartments about 10-12 storeys high built in the centre of the commercial area. There are quite a few blocks, but only Block N is open for sale. This is a 10-storey apartment block built atop a few levels of parking. There are 130 units here, with 5 unit types to choose from, at 775 to 1,051sq.ft. The smaller ones are 2 roomers, the intermediate ones have 2+1 while the larger ones have 3 bedroom, although one of the rooms are quite miniscule. Okay scratch that, let’s just call it 2+1.

Here’s the funny thing about the place – in the brochure, there’s an asterisk (*) and a fine print next to all the built-up sizes saying “*subject to change“. The size (and therefore layout) is subject to change? When? After signing the SPA? Before construction? I know this is a serviced apartment and buyers aren’t protected by the Housing Development Act here (which is caveat emptor enough by itself), anyone interest should really study the document over carefully.

We pretty much lost interest after that.

There is a Taman Mas Clubhouse, but we believe it is shared by all the other residents of the development, not just the condo. But even for the condo, they couldn’t confirm the number of units to be developed, so there could be quite high density. Judging from the sales chart in the office, there have only been a handful of units sold since launch, if it were to be taken as accurate.

They also couldn’t tell us who owned the empty pieces of land surrounding the area, or what was going to be built, save for a school that is earmarked nearby, but not sure when it will materialize. There’s also a light industrial area on the further side of the development, by the same developer.

There’s a small existing shrine in the development, which may serve as a landmark for those looking for this place in the future.

The developer is offering an investment linked fund that is tied to your purchase of your unit worth something like RM147k, from an established insurance company. Check with them for details.

Actually, we thought the price wasn’t as cheap as it should, considering this place is really far from the most other places, and that it being a commercial title. If you’re going to stay so far away, we’d rather opt for a large landed house for some peace and quiet, taking advantage of cheaper land prices since it’s not densely populated yet. Public transport is going to be a problem too. Plus it’s not as low densed as we thought. Considering the low-cost housing nearby…

Masteron have been in development in this area for many years, and they are also developing Koi Kinrara and Koi Tropika via their subsidiaries.

Reader Ian has sent recent some photos of Desa Putra taken by his friend.

For the original review of Desa Putra, click here.

More photos of Sierra Residency sent in by Cel last week… signboard up.