Property Malaysia

We are all pretty familiar with all those Australian properties being heavily advertised locally, especially those touting that places like Melbourne CBD is the ‘next hot property market’.

Now here’s something a little different – it’s a local project, with an Australian theme. Why Australian? No idea. Maybe it’s just a name.

The project is located behind Tesco in Puchong, next to Glomac’s Lakeside Residences (review here). To get to this place, there are two ways to enter the site, and the main entrance will be from YTL’s Lake Edge, past some factory lots and you will see this development on your left just before Lakeside Residences.

The other way to come in here would be from Puchong Intan, but that way would be less preferable.

This site is actually just across the river from USJ, and you can clearly see USJ1 Avenue across the waterway on the way in. A huge part of the marketing for this project hinges on the future connecting link from Puchong to USJ. However, as most residents on both sides of the river will tell you, this issue has been much talked about in the past ten years or so, but there seems to be no concrete plans as to when the bridge will actually start to be developed.

But even without the bridge, this area is still quite accessible to the main road, which is the LDP.

The development (which is actually called Bandar Metro Puchong) sits on an ex-mining land, similar to the neighbouring Lakeside Residences. The developer has opted for a raft foundation to alleviate the long term settlement due the effects of mining land, but the extent of the raft foundation is probably limited only to the houses, which may still cause differential settlement in the long term.

The development is quite sizable, about 200 acres in size and the master plan shows a commercial area and some amenities planned to make it an integrated mixed development. According to the salespeople, the developer is planning to set up their own headquarters here in the near future. But besides that, on the residential portion of the development, this is only the first of many phases that will be launched.

For this first phase, there are 213 homes open for sale. There is only one type of unit available for this pilot phase, and the three variations are the intermediate, corner and end lot types. It is a standard 2 and a half storey linkhouse set on a standard 22’ x 75’ plot.

The standard intermediate lot is about 2846sq.ft., and there are 4 rooms. There is a store room on the ground floor, but they’ve shown it to be a bedroom in the brochure. Maybe they should have just named it as a room to avoid any confusion. Every unit comes with a courtyard in the living room area, which opens up all the way to the sky. This courtyard is actually quite large. The other key feature of the house is that the living room and dining is at the back of the house, and the front of the ground floor is occupied by the aforementioned store/bedroom and a powder room.

The kitchen opens out to the courtyard, so ventilation may be a big problem here as air circulation may not be sufficient. This kind of layout was last seen in Ametis of Bukit Puchong.

The project is planned to be gated and guarded.

We are not fans of this kind of layout, but if you are interested, you should check it out. Plus factoring in the previous use of the land, plus the fact that it is leasehold may prompt comparison with other competing projects. It is priced as competitively as we had expected it to be, the prices start from RM482k upwards.

Maintenance fee is about RM150 monthly, please check with the sales people for the latest info.

This is the developers’ first major project in the Klang Valley. Previously they were mainly involved as a turnkey contractor.

The developer Villamas has now launched the second project in this area of Taman Bukit Serdang, following the earlier launch of Villa Pavilion which was quite well received. This new condo is located at a nearby site, which is actually behind Technology Park Malaysia.

The main concern for people planning to buy into this area is the proposed link road from Taman Bukit Serdang to the free-to-use Jalan Sg. Besi – Puchong. At the time when they launched Villa Pavilion, many people were quite unsure as to whether the road would actually be built by the authorities.

But for this launch of Villa Park, they are happy to point to you that the all-important link road is now heavily under construction, and you can see it from both ends of the connection. So how vital is this connecting road? It’ll greatly improve the accessibility of the area, that is a given fact. To appreciate this, you need to survey the area with the current access roads. There are two options to come to this place, either by the heavily congested main road of Seri Kembangan town, or from a earlier turning off the aforementioned Jalan Sg. Besi Puchong, near the Selangor Turf Club. Both access are heavily used at most times of the day, and both will make you go through some narrow roads and industrial areas.

The new link, although left turn only onto the main road, will make a difference, and it is understandable that all the developers around here are watching it anxiously.

Taman Bukit Serdang is quite different from it’s surroundings of matured, small terrace homes and low-cost apartments. It’s on the small hill, and mainly made up of newer higher priced linkhomes and condos, interspersed by green areas. Sooner of later, these lungs will mostly likely be developed too, but maybe it’ll still be in a few years time.

The TPM greenery next door makes sure that this condo will have a good view for the near future, and we found the location and surrounding to be quite pleasing.

At the end of the road, bordering the TPM is Villa Park, a development with two tower blocks. At the moment, they are opening up only the first tower block of about 200 units. We won’t go into details about the unit layout, but they offer 6 types of design ranging from 956 to 1,414sq.ft, with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. All units come with a balcony, the larger units have a utility room.

The facilities are quite good, they have sports facilities, besides the usual swimming pools, playgrounds, parks and security features.

Judging from the unit size and pricing, they are targeting the entry level buyers getting their first home here. Taking advantage of the proximity to TPM and the nearby colleges, this seems a good strategic move. Speaking of the price, it goes from a cheap RM153k onwards, which works out to be from about RM160psf onwards. Good price, very accessible to buyers and investors.

Did we like it? Sure, as we mentioned, the location is advantageous and well connected with all the highway and LRT. Pricing is attractive, plus it’s freehold. On the downside, the unit sizes don’t have a wide range. Only one parking spot is provided with purchase price, additional parking bays can be purchased subject to availability.

Townhouses are quite a strange housing phenomenon in Malaysia. The idea of a townhouse was first conceived as a two-unit strata home in densely populated areas in a town center, where land is scarce and expensive, and not large enough to build apartments. So in these conditions the many forms of townhouses took off, starting from the concept of a low-rise walk-up apartment.

Around here, the most common form of townhouses are two-unit variety, with each unit taking up one and a half floors, with both units having their own driveway. We understand that this concept has its benefits when used in the surrounding that it was intended for – high-density urban areas.

But more often that not, here townhouses are appreciated more for their novel concept more than anything else, and they are usually build as a unit type in a large mixed development. This is usually the case when the developer wants to offer as many types of unit types in his own project – bungalows, semi-Ds, linkhomes, apartments, condos, etc. Sort of covering all the bases to reach the maximum market penetration. So townhouses are also offered as one of them. This obvious in the recent Oasis in Bandar Kinrara and Challis in Sunway Damansara.

Now Bandar Bukit Puchong is also offering a new townhouse phase called Parkville.

Bandar Bukit Puchong is a large freehold development in Puchong and Sepang, and in the past two to three years they have been slowly launching parts of their massive landbank. They have recently undergone through a rebranding exercise, and have dropped the ‘Bandar’ from their name, combined both BBP and BBP2 (the former is in MPSJ land, the latter in Sepang) two one name, and changed their logo to a more contemporary styling. It’s quite timely, since their image was starting to look very dated.

Parkville is the latest phase to be launched will still many more to go. Some of the earlier launches reviewed by us before are:

Nilam Puri
Nilam Terraces
Ametis Terraces
Baiduri Courts

We’ve touched on the quality, location, connectivity and development facilities of BBP in the earlier posts, so we won’t repeat them here, and you are advised to read the above reviews for a recap.

Parkville has the townhouses in a small 24′ x 60′ plot, with both units, higher and lower, having a driveway that can fit one car only. Owners are given space for a second parking spot, but slightly away from your unit. The problem affects most townhouses - it is nigh impossible to park in front of your unit without blocking someone else’s driveway.

The lower unit is at a small 1,259sq.ft while the upper unit fares slightly larger at 1,528sq.ft. in exchange for the climb up everyday. For the lower unit, most of the space, including the master bedroom (and a very small attached bath) is located on the ground, with the first floor housing ony two other rooms and a shared common bath. Both these rooms face the front of the unit, and the third bedroom is very small. But the lower unit has a 5′ backyard, which may allow for some renovation for extra space.

The upper unit takes up two thirds of the first floor, where it houses the living, dining and kitchen. the 2nd floor is where you can find the three rooms. Here the rooms are definitely much more spacious than the lower unit, and the design is altogether more sensible for families.

We’re not fans of townhouses, but if we were to make a choice, it has to be the upper unit. But choice of unit has to be very careful, too, as you need to get a unit that maximizes the ventilation to your unit and avoid the afternoon heat.

The good point is that the units are not as as pricey as the other two townhouse projects mentioned earlier in the review. But at RM200k to RM240k, you need to seriously question yourself whether you want this kind of unit or a apartment outright, which you can easily get for this price. But at the end of the day, it really depends on whether you really prefer townhouses or not. The other points going for this project applies for the whole development, i.e. freehold and ex-plantation land.

They are planning extensive landscaping and some park features to enhance this 16-acre sub-development which is something different from some of the earlier launches.

If you are getting surprised at the rising prices for property in the Klang Valley, get ready to be shocked even more.

Previously, when paying RM10million for a bungalow in the exclusive areas of KL was pretty steep, now SP Setia are planning to up the ante by launching a limited series of “super high-end” bungalows priced at RM30 million each next year.

Yep, that’s THIRTY MILLION RINGGIT.’

According to them, they plan to sell 15 units of such bungalows at Kenny Hills in Kuala Lumpur, over a period of two years beginning 2008, pending the authorities’ approval on the building plan.

Read it here.

Idaman Villas is part of a larger development being executed by TA Properties, on a large tract of land that is between Mah Sing’s Damansara Legenda and Tropicana Golf and Country Resort. People usually refer to that area as Tropicana, mainly because Dijaya were pretty much the first the first to enter that area, building the sprawling golf resort and bungalow lots that was once the prestigious address in Petaling Jaya.

But as the years went by, more and more developers started to get in onto the scene, first with the 3 office towers across the road, then Mah Sing (occupying the land next to the highway where the old seafood restaurant is located), and also with Dijaya themselves actively building phase after phase of landed units and condos around the area.

Now Tropicana is synonymous with the closely built homes and crawl leading out of the area. As most PJ folks would know, there are only two ways to get out of here, and both are outflows inadequate to deal with the huge number of cars everyday. With Dijaya’s Casa Tropicana completed, one can only imagine the number of vehicles that will add to this already delicate situation.

There has been talk of a direct link out from Tropicana to the old Subang airport road, but until today, there has been no new development as to when this will become a reality.

TA Properties actually has a large tract of land here, and most of it is set aside for Damansara Idaman. Currently, only the first phase of that project has been launched, and from what we hear, they are gearing up for a new launch sometime next year. A small parcel of land totaling 7 acres has been used for Idaman Villas, which are semi-D and bungalows. At the moment they are only launching the semi-D units. The third parcel of land is earmarked for a small commercial area to service the residents here.

Idaman Villas are 54 numbers of semi-D units closely built in a small site.

There are 4 unit types, all two storey semi-D units. The plot size is slightly larger than the standard, here you have a choice of the longer 40’ x 90’ or the wider 45’ x 80’. We think it doesn’t make much of a different, the deciding factor would be the internal layout. The build up of the units range from 3,692 to 3,850sq.ft. which is a good range for a two storey unit. We are quite surprised at their choice not to go for two and a half storey, given the popularity of them these days, but perhaps they have their reasons. Besides, extra floor build-up means bigger price tag, so we think it works to their favor.

The units mostly come with at least 4+1 rooms, but as we mentioned earlier, they have very little yard space. They make up for it by having an outdoor terrace, and some units have a second courtyard that is quite small. We don’t prefer the courtyard option, since there is little use for it given that the air circulation is very poor there.

Each unit type has their own distinctive feature, and the one we were most impressed with was definitely type A, with a double volume dining area with a pitched roof covered with timber panels for a ceiling. Very elegant, we like. The rest of the units are no less impressive, but it really boils down to individual tastes.

The units don’t have much yard space, since there is only about 5’ space from your building line to your side fence, and at the front, there’s where you park your cars. To offset this lack of space for children to run free, they have set aside a rather small playground area. In addition to that, there is also a small clubhouse, which, at the moment, is already completed and used as a sales office. It can’t really serve as much, seeing that there no facilities there except for a little swimming pool.

The maintenance fee as expected to be RM400 per month, please check with the sales people for the latest info. The development is gated and guarded.

Units cost from RM1.6mil above, which we feel is quite an expensive price for a semi-D unit even if you take into account that it is freehold. For slightly more you can find bungalows in nearby areas, but the location puts a strong argument to justify it. If you want a home in this area, and don’t travel at peak hours, then it’s worth a look.

Other than this project and Damansara Idaman, the developer is also developing Idaman Residence along Jalan P. Ramlee (read the review here).

It’s been another busy month for us, we managed to squeeze in 5 reviews in October. As usual we’ve updated the reviews page .

As a recap, the projects reviewed this whole month were:

Taming Mutiara, Sungai Long
Laman Granview, Puchong
Taman Meranti Jaya: Phase 3, Puchong
Taman Putra Impiana: Putra Homes 2
Serenia Gardens, Ukay Perdana: Phase 1A

IJM Properties have launched yet another project in the Klang Valley, hot on the heels of last month’s Laman GranView. This time, it is also another of the ill-fated Talam’s landbank, now taken full advantage of by the IJM group (and the financial backing). This piece of land is situated in the Ukay Perdana / Hulu Kelang area.

Actually from what we know, IJM have been wanting to launch this project for quite some time now, given the recent uptrend of property market in this area. But some factors have made the launch only possible until now. Quite of a few projects have been launched prior to this around here, and the nearest would be Sering Ukay. Some the others are:
Ukay Bayu and Puncak Ukay, Ukay Heights
Laman Oakleaf, Ampang
3Residen, Melawati
Kemensah Mewah, Hulu Kelang
Kemensah Residency, Kemensah Heights

To get here is quite straightforward, turn off the MRR2 at the Ukay Perdana interchange, which is the same one leading to Kampung Pasir. Pass Sering Ukay on your right and just follow the signs leading to the project site. At the moment, there is no show house, the sales office is located in IJM’s head office in PJ. Coming to the site, you will appreciate one of the reasons why this place took some time to launch – there is considerable infrastructure done prior to this (and still ongoing) due to the nature of the terrain. The site is nestled on the small hilltops. This is ideal for a living place, in that it is surrounded by greenery and according to the salespeople, it is part of a forest reserve that will not be developed, at least not in the near future.

But it also means that there is little land that is suitable available for development, after subtracting the area for fill slopes and infrastructure works like wall and such. Also, the cost of the infrastructure works is almost always factored into the unit price that is borne by the purchaser. The 90 acres that they have for this project is large by any standard, and even more so when considering the good location and proximity to the city centre. By comparison, Sering Ukay also invested quite a sum into their infrastructure preparatory works prior to the pilot launch.

There is currently one access road leading up to the development, but there is plan for another connecting leading to Kemensah Heights. This adds an air of being secluded to the area, but it also poses a problem of traffic in future, since there is limited choice of how to get in and out.

Altogether, the masterplan for this 90-acre development consists of 821 units, consisting of mainly linkhomes and semi-D homes. For this first phase, they are launching a limited number of linkhomes, nearest to the entrance, 225 in total. There are a lot of unmarked plots in the master plan, but the salespeople were not forthcoming with what they were planned for. But there should not be any apartments or highrise of that sort, but we feel they may opt for higher end homes like bungalows in the later phases although this is not shown at the moment.

As with the scarcity of land mentioned above, the linkhomes launched are pretty small yet pricey comparatively. The unit is a small 20’ x 70’ two storey home with a 1400sq.ft. buildup. The layout is pretty unimaginative for IJM’s own standards, probably in an attempt to limit the unnecessary cost that is transferred directly to the bottomline price. The layout is rectangular – 20’ of driveway, unit is about 40’ long, the remaining 10’ serves as a backyard. There are 4 bedrooms, and 3 baths, even the dry and wet kitchen is combined into one. The no-frills design is offset with a pleasant façade design, and this is where IJM Properties maintain their signature look and overall feel with earth tone colours.

Not counting the low cost homes in Klang, this stands as the most affordable landed units that IJM have launched in recent years. But we quite disappointed with the minimalistic design that is coupled with a minimum price tag of more than RM350k (it is, after all only 1400sq.ft.), but it still far cheaper than the recent Laman GranView. But at this build-up, it not accessible to the entry-level buyers, so the main selling point is the view and green surrounding. However, with the tight competition in this area offering the almost similar concept, this is a rather tough sell.

This project is the second phase of Taman Putra Impiana which was launched earlier last year. While that pilot phase, called Putra Homes 1, is nearing completion of the construction, they have just launched the next phase within the same development area. The land is quite big in this development, about 75 acres in all. In the master plan, there an area allocated for commercial lots near the entrance to Taman Putra Impiana, but a check on site show no works yet. The sales people also were not able to tell us when the master plan would be realized, now that the first phase is almost complete.

You are advised to read the review of the earlier phase here as we would be repeating much that has been touched on there.

This project is one the many that have been developed on both sides of the road leading to Taman Mas Sepang, off the LDP. Some of the others here that have come up in the past 2 years are:

Calisa Residences, Taman Mas Sepang
Taman Puchong Tekali
Taman Tasik Puchong
Alam Idaman
Lake Vista @ Taman Tasik Prima Puchong
Taman Putra Prima

So with so much competition what has the developer done to stand above the rest? They haven’t changed much to the original design, unfortunately. So for those of you that felt the original first phase looked dated, this impression would be even more pronounced when you first view the second phase, especially in the light of the change in prevailing design trends seen in more contemporary homes of late.

The other day some friends of our were looking for a home (whether new or second-hand) in this area, preferably a linkhome and not an apartment. Their budget was up to RM230k, but they failed to find any in that range. It was then obvious to us that at that price you’d be hard pressed to find a new home - here, the price starts from RM260k onwards, plus you need two wait at least 2 years for it before you can move in.

Granted, this is a second phase, and naturally it is common for the developer to increase the price from the earlier phase (which retailed at RM250k upwards). But it is hard for us to justify the price, considering that it is leasehold, and the finishes and facade do not reflect the current trends.

The homes are on a rectangular footprint set on a 20′x75′ plot. There are 3+1 rooms and three baths.

If you think you’ve seen quirky company names, make sure you check this one out. The subsidiary name is Wandeerfull Property & Development.

But on to the project. Taman Meranti Jaya is located on the road leading branching off the LDP, leading towards Taman Putra Prima. The earlier phases of the development have been completed for some time now, and you can see them as you drive along the road going to this latest phase. This third phase, which they launched earlier this year, consists of 182 numbers of 2 and a half storey link homes, designed with a contemporary look. Comparatively, this is quite a departure from the earlier phases which employed a more traditional look.

The land is ex-plantation freehold, and the surrounding areas are still undeveloped, which is surprising for a Puchong project. But it won’t be long, though, as more and more projects are being planned.

The semi-D unit has the 3rd floor at the front of the unit, giving the house a front heavy look, and we really like the façade and colour combination of it. There are two floors of similar balconies, and they have opted for a darker grey and white look.

The plot is 22’x 70’, which does not really justify the ‘super-link’ tag, and only goes to show how loosely developers use these terms these days. The build-up comes to 3,020sq.ft., and there are 5 rooms and 4 baths. The units come with a large balcony on the top floor facing the back of the house, and with the right location you can get a decent view. 3,020sq.ft. is a good size for a 2 and a half storey unit, and there are two large master bedrooms but without space for walk-in closets. The other two rooms share a bath.

The price is from RM461,100 to RM695,300, which is high for a link home and this location. But maybe they’ve factored in the contemporary design and freehold land status, but it’s hard to justify it when you can get a bigger unit nearer to the city at the same time. But we like the design, although we are not necessarily in favour of this location. The finishing provided is quite standard and as for quality, buyers can check out the completed earlier phases as an indication of what you should be getting. Judging from the actual show unit, we think there are some areas that need touch up, hopefully the other units will have the rushed-up issues we observed.

Tanming has many projects across the Klang Valley. A recent one that we reviewed is Taming Mutiara in Sungai Long.

Welcome to October. We’ve updated the projects page, and the reviews in September were:

Villa Yarl, Taman Yarl
Sering Akasia, Taman Sg. Sering
Bayu Segar, Cheras
Twin Palms, Sungai Long: Areca and Palmyra

As usual, more coming in October.