Tang talking to potential investors at Menara Star in Petaling Jaya. — KEVIN TAN/The Star
WHEN it comes to hosting property forums that feature some of the industry’s top experts, StarProperty.my is a veteran as the events never fail to draw eager crowds who seek to gain knowledgeable insight and pick the brains of the experts.
The recently concluded first part of the StarProperty.my forum focused on the western corridor of the Klang Valley, and it featured two property experts expounding on what is in store for the corridor.
REI Group of Companies chief executive officer Dr Daniele Gambero was first up with his talk titled “New infrastructure unlocks the value of property in Klang area”, followed by Henry Butcher Real Estate Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Tang Chee Meng who spoke on “Is home ownership just a dream for middle-income Malaysians?”.
Gambero began his talk on the common features of the property market to look out for, stressing that infrastructure played an important part as it aided in the growth of an area.
There are a few new infrastructure projects in the western corridor, namely LRT Line 3, BRT and future expansion of MRT Line 1. This will contribute to a growing population moving southwards in search of more affordable homes.
He advised people to look for areas which are not so developed yet, but are up-and-coming.
This allows for property purchases that are still within their means, but have the potential to grow and provide good capital yield when the area is fully developed with all the infrastructure in place.
“According to a report by National Property Information Centre (NAPIC), due to the population growth, there will be an unsatisfied demand of about 3.3mil houses by 2020. Even if you take a more modest figure and half that amount, there will still be a need of 1.6 million houses. As such, there is a need to develop the western corridor of Klang Valley so that people will be able to afford houses in that area,” Gambero explained.
The second talk was equally informative, with Tang echoing Gambero’s words with some sobering facts regarding the rate of home ownership in Malaysia based on a report released by Khazanah Research Institute (KRI).
The report touched on the concerns of middle-income households who are caught in between; not eligible for social housing and not able to afford the private sector developments either.
“The Malaysian population is growing at around 2% per annum with an increasing trend towards urbanisation and this will exert a strong demand for additional housing. KRI has shown that at the national level, the average house prices were considered ‘seriously unaffordable’, with the only place that is currently considered ‘affordable’ is Malacca,” says Tang.
He went on to elaborate that the Government is undertaking various policies and efforts to boost low-cost and affordable housing. Some of these include the Program Perumahan Rakyat (PPR), Perumahan Rakyat 1Malaysia (PR1MA) and My First Home Scheme.
There are also affordable privately developed homes along Klang Valley’s western corridor that are worth considering.
“Geo at Bukit Rimau, Hillpark at Shah Alam North, as well as Liberty and Parisien Towers at iCity are just some of the properties which fall under the ‘affordable’ range. In addition, an exciting new integrated development in Klang to look forward to is Gravit8 by Mitraland, which has a maritime theme and surrounded by a network of highways,” said Tang.
Both speakers agree that the western corridor of Klang Valley is poised to become a modern and booming town thanks to the influx of infrastructure which provides ease of access.
With interest focusing on Klang in particular, now is a good time to purchase property at the right location. The second and final part of the Starproperty.myforum will be held on Nov 7 at the Cybertorium at Menara Star. For more information or registration, log on to www.starproperty.my/forum
