Property Malaysia

We remembered a time when before Bandar Utama was launched in the early 90’s, there was nothing there yet, PJ ended with Damansara Jaya and on the other side of the road was KL’s Taman Tun Dr Ismail. During the sales launch, a friend of hours had to camp overnight to book a link unit for about RM150k. Then came the phenomenon called 1 Utama that permanently changed the face of Malaysian retail industry, and the rest, well, you know the rest.

These days of those units can set you back half a million ringgit, and there isn’t much substantial land to develop in Bandar Utama. The borders of PJ is now seamlessly joined with Sungai Buloh and Sri Damansara with acres of homes and commercial centres and apartments, and highways crossing this and that direction.

Bandar Utama still holds its own despite being more than 10 years old now, a matured development compared to places like Mutiara Damansara or Kota Damansara. There are still pockets of land here and there, but not big ones for landed development. But big enough for condos.

But Laman Ara Utama isn’t really a condo, not in its normal sense. The site is behind Centrepoint in Bandar Utama, and here next to the existing linkhomes, Jurutiara is developing a lowrise condo development. How lowrise? There are only 4 floors of units, with 45 units available for sale. This is quite a different concept from the highrise high density condos dotting the skyline in nearby Mutiara Damansara and Damansara Perdana. Probably in line with the area of Bandar Utama, or the density limitations of this development, this is one of a few such development that concentrate on fewer units, but situated in more desirable and suburban locations around PJ. Some of these were initially planned as bungalows or linkhomes, but

The building follows the shape of the land, and other the building takes up almost all the land available. The land is on a slight slope, so the layout of the floors reflect this. The units are on the lower ground floor, ground, first and second. The second floor units have access up to a private roof garden. The lowest floor have 8 units per floor, while the other floors have about 12. There are generally only 2 rows of the unit, the row facing the front, which are standard size units, and the row facing the back, where the larger units are situated.

Almost every unit is different, and you have up to 14 different layout types to choose from. Sizes range from a small 986sq.ft. up to 1,603sq.ft. The range of sizes is very narrow, so buyers will tend to choose the unit layout that is right for them, and also the which side it faces. While most units are different, they follow a rectangular layout scheme, with 3 or 3+1 rooms, and a courtyard for a landscaped area.

In terms of facilities, there isn’t much space left for it, but there is swimming pool, and some landscaped areas. This being a well-developed sub-urban area, amenities are quite nearby. Other than the security features, there isn’t much on offer here. Each unit comes with 2 parking bays.

The bottom line here is the location - that is Bandar Utama. What price to pay for staying in a prestigious address and envied location? From RM270k to RM500k actually, and we’re talking about RM280psf. Not very expensive, but still not cheap either. Bear in mind the units are not large, 986 to 1,604 sq.ft., which accounts for ceiling price here. But seeing that condos are scarce in this area, the demand will there nonetheless. A second hand unit at nearby Riana Green is now fetching premium returns, and this also applies to some of the condos further up.

This is Jurutiara’s first project, and we couldn’t find much info on the people behind it.

In a nutshell, units are small, and design is rather unimaginative, so too for building facade. Facilities are pretty thin on the ground. On the plus side, its Bandar Utama.

Thanks to all the readers and friends that participated in the recent poll which asked the question: ‘Will You Be Buying A Residential Property in 2008?’. The poll has been closed after a week and the results are as follows:

As can be seen, about half of the respondents (49%) voted outright ‘no’, probably due to a variety of reasons. Altogether 3 out of every four respondents (75%) voted on the negative side.

In the past 3 months or so, we’ve seen a sharp drop in the number of new launches in the Klang Valley, especially major condo projects and large development projects. Most of the ones being advertised in the papers these few weeks are basically new phases or re-launches of existing projects. A lot of people are wary of the economic situation for the remainder of the year, especially in the light of the subprime crisis in the US and the spiralling price of oil.

Even locally, the building sector is facing hard times with the rising price of materials such as diesel, premix, steel and cement, just to name a few.

Some of our friends that are trying to rent out their KLCC condos are facing stiff competition as more and more condos are being handed over to purchasers and entering the market.

All in all, we hope the property market will hold out against the tough times.

Let’s do another poll, this one on something i’m quite curious about.

The poll will run for a week, ending next Wednesday, following which we will publish and discuss the results. I will also explain a little bit on why i’m asking this question. As usual, please vote once only, and we REALLY appreciate if you can ask all your friends to come here and vote, we hope to get as many respondents and possible. Our polls seem to get more and more popular!

Thanks in advance for your participation!

Huge property launches seem to be getting fewer and fewer these days, maybe its a sign of the market satuaration or the impending economic plateau, but i guess it makes us look forward to each one even more.

In recent weeks, Papillon had their soft launch, and we had the opportunity to view it. First the location - it’s situated on a 4.5 acre piece of land in Taman Desa, between the existing double storey link homes and Old Klang Road. Previously, there were 8 old bungalows, and apparently, some of our friends who lived around this area while they were growing up have fond memories of playing in the green area. Well, now, like most green areas we hold in our memories, they’re going to turn it into a luxury condo.

Driving around Taman Desa, it’s a pretty developed area with a good mix of office buildings, commercial area, and landed homes which currently fetch good returns for the owners in terms of both rentals and resale value (a friend of ours just bought a unit there). Most of the new condos are situated along Old Klang Road (Jalan Kelang Lama) like Saville Residence, so Papillon has the distinction of being one of the few luxury condos in this vicinity.

The land is sizable to build a large condominium, but they’ve opted for a better configuration of medium rise low density. The land is located on a slope facing KL, so perhaps that, too, played a part in deciding the density of the project. At the show gallery, which is situated right in the middle of the project site, they’ve a viewing deck on the roof for you to appreciate the view. We managed to snap some photos while we were there:

Even on the third floor level you can see KLCC, right next to KL Tower in the second and third picture.

There are two similar blocks, both enclosing the common facilities at the podium level. Each level has 8 units, arrange in 4 pairs of semi-D like layout. We definitely can see the merits of this design - they’ve taken full advantage of the space available so that each unit has only one neighbour, so thereby maximizing the window space and giving each unit more privacy.

There are only 3 main types of unit designs available, the standard unit 1,712sq.ft. and 1,784sq.ft. (the latter is about one foot wider in total width) and then there is the smaller (but apparently popular) unit at 1,322sq.ft. and the largest at 2,059sq.ft. It should be noted that all the units have pretty much the same design, the difference is derived mainly from the unit total width. Units come with 2+1, 3+1 or 4+1 rooms, and all rooms have ensuite bathrooms for an added convenience.

As for facilities, they have the usual swimming pool, gymnasium, playground, three tier security, etc.

Price is stiff to say the least. Cheapest unit cost almost RM490,ooo, and the dearest comes close to RM1.8mil. The price per square foot is about RM370psf for the units facing PJ, and for the KL view, you are stumping about RM420psf. It is about the price of Mont’Kiara condos. But the difference here is that there are no smaller or studio units, the smallest unit, as mentioned earlier is at a rather large 1,322sq.ft., hence pumping up the minimum entry price. For the standard 1712 unit at a low level, you’ll be paying an average of about RM800k for the unit.

There are a few reasons that we can identify why the developers feel the pricing is justified. Firstly, its the location and the view. There aren’t any condos of this stature around here, and its situated away from the perpetually busy Old Klang Road. Secondly, the price of real estate, especially the landed homes around here are sky high, almost double to triple of what you’d pay for a condo here. For more than that, this piece of land is also freehold, giving that slight edge over those projects below that are on leasehold land.

We admit that we were quite impressed with the project, but a reality check settled in when we had to do a double take when we saw the price. But we’re thinking the location alone will carry the sales of the project, and also the low density factor of the development (only 225 units) helps a lot.

The project is jointly developed by TNB and Zeus, a subsidiary of Peter’s Group. This is the latter first major project, while TNB has a few high profile projects underway in the city.

A lot of people have been asking us what are they building at this particular site, since its next to the main road.

Giza @ Dataran Sunway is actually a Specialty Retail Centre with large retail space, covered boulevard with alfresco dining and a supermarket, built next to the current shoplots. More details can be seen here.

At the moment construction is still at basement carpark level.

By the way, that’s Casa Indah in the background. The one under construction is the first tower of Casa Indah 2.

Taman Putra Prima has mainly released double-storey linkhomes in their development over a few phases, but now they are entering into a (slightly) higher range of homes with larger build-up. Most of the earlier phases of Taman Putra Prima (TPP for short) have been well received, over the few phases they’ve managed to iron out some of the kinks in their design to improve their homes. They’re one of the few developers to actively seek their purchasers feedback on the design.

For the review of the earlier phases here on Property Malaysia, you can read it here:
Taman Putra Prima: Phase 4B (Azurite)
Taman Putra Prima: Phase 4A (Beryl & Ivory)

To get to TPP, you need to turn right at the Puchong Utama LDP interchange, then at the third traffic lights, turn right and go all the way to the end of the road and you‘ll see the development on your left. As a general rule the area on the right of the dual carriageway is part of MPSJ (hence, Puchong) and on your left would be Sepang. Along the way on the right, you’ll see projects like Tasik PrimaPuchong Tekali and the mature Puchong Utama township. On the right you’ll Taman Putra Impiana and a lot of empty land. Beyond that area projects like Puchong Prima, Bandar Bukit Puchong 2, Meranti Jaya, Bandar Nusaputra (reviews here, here and here) and the older Amanputra and Putra Perdana.

You are encouraged to read about our take on the quality, accessibility, connectivity and overall look of the development there as we won’t repeat it here.

For TPP, bigger units at slightly higher prices is something of a new step here. Amethyst is a limited phase of only 22 units set in a small area that is right next to the existing phase of double-storey linkhomes. Here the plot size is 24′ x 80′, only slightly longer than a standard linkhome, but the built-up is at a spacious 2,408-2,891sq.ft. For those of us who are used to living in homes around 1,800 to 2,000sq.ft. or below, it is not difficult to appreciate the extra 400 to 500sq.ft. in your living space. Although on paper it usually doesn’t look much, you can easily see the difference upon first impressions when entering the show unit. But of course its all relative, if you are used to living in a 4,000sq.ft. bungalow, then…

There are only 4 rows of units, all arranged in a semi circle, concentrically enclosing a field. This layout allows a high ratio of corner units to intermediate ones, 8 in total.

Building footprint is a regular rectangle shape, with ample driveway able to fit up to 4 cars. There are 4+1 rooms, with 3 baths, with a pretty standard design with bedrooms 2 & 3 sharing an attached bath (a design holdover from the late 90’s wethinks). The ground floor takes up a smaller footprint than the 1st floor, mainly because the yard is quite big. Corner lots come with welcome garden space, which we think makes it workable for the small ground floor area. With the wide 24′ frontage, this benefits the masterbedroom.

For that extra space, they are marketing it at RM381k to RM550k. They are throwing in some freebies, please check with the salespeople for the latest info.

The area shares the same gated entrance as an earlier phase. There is also a central linear park for this phase.

So it is a small addition for TPP to add to the growing neighbourhood, although this area still remains low density, with the phase all spaced out very well, and no condominiums up as yet. For the pricing, it seems a little steep for a slightly wider and longer linkhomes, but the limited number and surrounded location may sway buyers.

We were there for a good friend’s housewarming, couldn’t resist taking some photos of this rather new development. Nusarhu is located in a new area of Shah Alam, beyond Bukit Jelutong. It’s in the same vicinity as a clutch a few other developments, namely, Cahaya SPK, Kayangan Heights, Sunway Kayangan, Perdana Heights.

It’s not as far as most people think, but it’s a bit complicated to get there, and it is a relative new area with not much facilities at the moment. As an incentive, property prices are very cheap to entice the crowd, something Puchong was about 10 years ago. We can foresee massive growth in the same time span.

Enjoy the pics.

It’s nothing more than a running number, but the blog Property Malaysia quietly surpassed the 1,000,000th pageview sometime last week.

If you’ve never noticed the page counter, it’s quite small and located at the bottom left of this page. We got a screencapture of the counter, but not at the exact number…

Actually we would have reach there a lot faster if not for the counter going down for about a month earlier, but what the heck.

We’d like to thank all our loyal readers for making this site their daily (or weekly) visit.