Property Malaysia

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.

Here’s a quick run-down on the properties that we reviewed in the past one month of April:

188.Mutiara Indah, Puchong (Phase 2C)
187.Taman Putra Prima: Phase 4B (Azurite)
186.D’Rapport, Ampang
185.Amberhill, Melawati

As usual, the projects review page has been updated.

Have a good weekend for those on a long break!

We’re not usually tolerant of SMS spam, but we actually were drawn to visit this place after receiving more than a few text messages. Actually we were in the area as a matter of coincidence, so don’t let that reinforce the idea of the effectiveness of this particular medium of invasive advertising.

But we actually have been wanting to revisit Mutiara Indah for some time now, after of first two trips there awhile back. One of the reasons was to see how the earlier phases turned out to be especially in terms of the finish quality. We have reviewed one of the earlier phases here:

Mutiara Indah, Puchong (Phase 2)

which was a quartet home design, and have now been handed over to the purchasers, and some have moved in.

A drive through the earlier phases showed that the later phases have slightly better quality compared to the first phase, and after all that has been said and done, the quartet homes still look a little awkward for us. But other than that, the facade design looks quite pleasing.

But for the remaining row facing the quartet homes, the developers are going slightly upscale, with the launch of the limited units of link bungalows. Isn’t the term link bungalow a paradox? If it’s linked, it can’t be a bungalow, right? (don’t get me started with ‘bungalows in the sky’, then…). In this case, the unit is actual a large semi-D unit. The reason why (or at least we THINK why) they went for the misnomer link bungalow is that the unit is joined to the next only at the kitchen, instead of the entire length of the party wall as in a normal semi-D. So there is actually a spce at the front in between the two units, albeit a narrower space compared to the other side where there is a side garden.

The plot size is 48′ x 70′, slightly wider than a normal semi-D unit, but with a shorter length. Standard units come with a 3,487sq.ft. buildup for two and a half storeys, but there are a few special units with a slightly roomier 3,812sq.ft. (slight difference to the layout).

The facade design opts for the contemporary look with accentuated sills and low windows, which looks an extension of the look that was employed for the earlier phases. We weren’t too thrilled with the colour scheme of pastelly brown and cream, perhaps a grey look (quite popular nowadays) would have suited better, but of course its a question of personal taste.

Inside the unit, we were actually quite pleased with the layout. The living room is spacious, although our first impression was that they could have gone with more full length windows to maximize the natural light. But there are actually still enough windows to allow some creativity in ID. The dining / family area is a double-volume space that is quite impressive. On the second floor are 3 rooms, all with their own attached baths. Because of the double volume space from the ground floor, it is understandable that the space is limited in the first floor. On the top most half floor, it is entirely made up of one huge master bedroom, big enough to have your own study attached. The design is quite interesting, there are large false columns in the middle of the room, probably meant to separate out either a walk-in wardrobe or a baby room. Quite a nice touch. Unfortunately, the open design meant that they had to introduce a sliding glass door at the top of the staircase, and the tracks on the ground will be a problem in the future. A little more thought in the design could have avoided this problem.

So all in all there are 5+1 rooms, all with attached baths, even for the maid’s room.

Like we said, we like the layout, but for us it is no more than a semi-D unit. Price starts from RM764k onwards, currently at a promotional price due to launch. The lower units will have a main road at the back of the unit, the higher units will be backed with a landscaped park.

The development is gearing up for more upscale units in the near future as they open up new areas bordering Saujana Puchong and IJM’s Laman Granview. So this limited phase serves as a testing ground for them to gauge the response of a higher end unit from the public. Price for a semi-D is just about right, maybe its a strategy to market it as a bungalow to make it seem very affordable…!

No seriously, this is really a house. In Malaysia, this would be called “blocking the side lane”. Taken from the Torontoist:

This house, located near the intersection of Dufferin Street and Rogers Road is believed to be Toronto’s smallest house. Occupying what used to be a driveway, it’s a one-bedroom, one-bathroom house that sits on a parcel of land 7.25 feet (2.2 metres) wide and 113.67 feet (34.6 metres) long and has an interior area of just under 300 square feet (under 28 square metres). The asking price is $179,900.!!!!

We have actually passed by this show unit a number of times since the end of last year, but didn’t make an effort to go and see it, so last weekend we decided to turn off the main road and check out this place.

Things have changed a lot in this part of Puchong / Sepang over the last one year, many of the projects that populate both sides of this road. Many of these projects that we launched in the first half of this decade (yes, we ARE nearing the end of this decade!) have now matured quite a bit, with the general population of this area getting higher and higher by the month. With the pilot phases of each development ready, each of these projects are starting to show their identity and image, although in some cases it isn’t entirely what the development intended it to be.

But Taman Putra Prima has maintained a very peaceful and sparsely developed project, a drive through the earlier phase will attest. Granted, they haven’t really tinkered with their concept of entry level linkhomes, but it serves the intended purpose well.

To get to Taman Putra Prima, 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.

For the review of the earlier phase Beryl and Ivory (Phase 4A), you can read it here:

Taman Putra Prima: Phase 4A (Beryl & Ivory)

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.

Once into Taman Putra Prima, the Azurite phase can be found quite deep inside the development. Just as with the earlier Phase 4A, there are about 220 units, and Azurite are 22′ x 75′ double storey linkhomes with a buildup of 1,930sq.ft. One slight difference is that there are special units here that are larger at 22′ x 80′ and 2,176sq.ft. Of course it also comes with a bigger price tag. All units come with 4+1 bedrooms, and with 3 baths. There is a guest room downstairs, and it shares an attached bath with the kitchen. They haven’t changed much of the layout from some of their earlier design, but here the thing that really impressed us was the first floor facade. It looked really elegant for a linkhouse, with the tall full height windows. This results in some odd high level fixed glass windows that are a pain to clean, but we think many people will appreciate the design value.

We also liked the white and dark grey colour scheme, very trendy, and something different from an overload of pastel-ly cream homes around here.

Obviously for a later phase, the price has increased a little, but it is about the average price of a DSL in this area. In terms of convenience of shops, the commercial area here hasn’t really taken off yet, but they are actually building more shoplots. For a more shops the nearest would probably in Puchong Perdana, or else Bandar Puteri would be the next nearest commercial area.

Nutshell - nice facade, area is a bit far.