Image Source: Google Street View

One of Malaysia’s most high-end neighbourhoods, Gurney Drive, has proven it is real estate gold after Hong Kong investors snapped up four bungalows in the area for over RM20mil.

The bungalows are the “last stretch” of old properties along Gurney Drive, which has been named in international publications as one of the best places to check out for culinary delights.

If all the stars align for these owners, real estate brokers say that the newly acquired assets can bring in a yield of at least RM130mil after about 10 years.

The investment involves a row of four two-storey houses facing a row of casuarina trees along Gurney Drive.

Real estate investors from abroad have been eyeing Gurney Drive for some time, buying up old landed properties at over RM1,000 per sq ft.

As a comparison, the average gross selling prices of new luxury high-rise residences in Kuala Lumpur ranged between RM750 per sq ft and RM960 per sq ft in the first half of 2021.

Another survey of high-rise residential properties in Klang Valley found that a two-bedroom unit in KLCC cost an average of RM1,079 per sq ft.

Covering a total area of a little over 2,700 sq m – or around 29,062 sq ft – the land the four houses sit on is almost as big as that of two Olympic-sized swimming pools.

“It’s all about the location. They (investors) are not put off by the development guidelines or local council regulations.

Actual location:

“The Gurney Drive area is where development is expected to be the most pronounced on the island in the future so they bought the houses,” said a real estate broker who asked not to be named.

Attempts to speak to the new Hong Kong owners have not been successful.

Featuring wooden walls on the top storey with brick-and-mortar ground floor structures, the four houses are surrounded by high-rise hotels and condominiums.

Real estate agent David Lim revealed that one of the vacant houses, which used to house Carnation Bak Kut Teh, is being offered for rent at RM14,000 a month.

When told about the Hong Kong investors, another property developer said it would be “a good buy” if the bungalows were within the commercial zone of a plot ratio of 1:5.

A plot ratio means the total allowable gross floor area that can be developed over the size of the land area.

If the plot ratio for the combined land of about 2,700 sq m is 1:5, a development with a total floor space of about 13,500 sq m is possible.

Going by the RM900 per sq ft median price quoted over the Internet for strata properties in Gurney Drive currently on sale, this will result in a potential gross development value of at least RM130mil from these four houses.

“As long as those old houses can be demolished, there can be many possibilities. You can have a mixed development. It can be a hotel, serviced apartment, offices … many things,” said the developer.

For the record, the median house price last year was highest in Putrajaya at RM628,000, followed by Kuala Lumpur at RM490,000 and Selangor at RM410,000.

Penang is at seventh place with a median price of RM317,000, according to data from the National Property Information Centre.

The island has been captivating Hong Kong buyers in the past few years, with a number of celebrities, including superstars Jackie Chan, Andy Lau and Simon Yam said to own homes here.

Source: TheStar.com.my

About Green City Residence

A 29-storey luxury development in the heart of George Town by Green City Garden Development Sdn. Bhd. Located on a half-acre land along Macalister Road, it is only 2km away from KOMTAR and less than 15 minutes drive to Penang Bridge.

This project features 52 units of luxury suites and a 100-room hotel. An automated robotic parking system will be built to allow more car parking bays.

Find out more about Green City Residence

Penang and Langkawi have earned the Top 10 spot in the first ever Asia’s Best Awards 2022 – Top 10 islands in Southeast Asia for 2022.

The list was published by Travel + Leisure, a resource for trip ideas, hotels, flight sales, city guides, and travel tips.

Penang came in at 8th place and Langkawi, 5th.

Heading the list was Phuket, Thailand. Koh Samui, also in Thailand and Bali, Indonesia came in at second and third spots respectively.

Others are Phu Quoc, Vietnam (4th); Lombok, Indonesia (6th place), Palawan, The Philippines (7th place), Koh Phi Phi, Thailand (9th place) and Con Dao, Vietnam (10th place).

The news was shared on Georgetown, Penang’s Facebook page.

It earned praises from visitors in the comments section.

Earlier this year, Penang landed on CNN Travel’s list of 22 best destinations to visit in 2022.

In December last year, it was named as one of 15 Best Islands in the World to Retire On by International Living, a website that covers global retirement or relocation opportunities.

Source: NST Online

The Penang government has initiated the pre-qualification process for the Bayan Lepas Light Rail Transit’s Request for Proposal exercise.

Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said interested corporations that are shortlisted following the pre-qualification process would be invited to participate in the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Bayan Lepas LRT scheme which would be called later.

Those interested can check out Penang Infrastructure Corporation’s website at https://tender.penanginfra.com/home to register their interest.

“The pre-qualification process starts from July 25 to Aug 24. The companies can request access from Penang Infrastructure Corporation (PIC) to download the pre-qualification process documents.

“The document fee (non-refundable) is RM2,000 and is to be paid to PIC. They can download the documents from July 25 to Aug 14.

“Online registration starts from July 21 to Aug 8.

“The deadline for the submission of documents for the pre-qualification process is at noon, Aug 24. The assessment process will commence after the closing date and is expected to take place from Aug 25 to Sept 8,” Chow told a media conference in Komtar today.

Chow said the Penang government is committed to realising the Bayan Lepas LRT project as it is an important component of the Penang Transport Master Plan (PTMP).

The media conference also saw the launching of the newly rebranded PIC website, penanginfra.com

“Previously, it was the pgmasterplan.penang.gov.my website. This rebranding exercise has been worked on since last year.

“This newly rebranded website will be featuring information on PIC, Pusat Perkhidmatan Setempat Nelayan (PPSN) and components of PTMP, and the Penang South Islands (PSI),” he said.

Source: Buletin Mutiara

The Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) is developing an Affordable Housing Price Index for each location nationwide as a guide for developers, prospective buyers and local authorities to determine the appropriate price of affordable housing in an area or locality.

Its minister, Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican said the index should be set up as there are different standards or definitions of affordable housing in various localities and states.

“For example, affordable in Shah Alam might not be the same as affordable in Hulu Selangor. That’s why we need to have a different standard to be guidelines for housing developers or entities to develop or build affordable housing,” he said during his speech as the launch of the Home Ownership Programme (HOPE) and the Jom Beli Rumah Carnival at Mid Valley Exhibition Centre near here last Friday.

Both programmes are among government initiatives aimed to make house ownership easy for B40, M40 groups and youth.

“Every Malaysian family needs and should be helped to own a home. This is our joint objective – One Family One House,” he said.

Reezal also informed that the Jom Beli Rumah Carnival held last Friday will be expanded throughout the country and over 130,000 affordable houses as well as over 330,000 residences at open prices will be offered in the series of carnivals.

“It will not just be in Mid Valley only, but will be taken to Malaysian families in the north, east coast, south as well as Sabah and Sarawak,” he said.

He said special offers, including discounts of up to 10 per cent, reduction or exemption of legal fees along with facilities to make the 10 per cent deposit by instalments, will be given to visitors.

Meanwhile, he said 386,000 units out of 500,000 houses targeted for construction throughout the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) were in the implementation stage.

Source: Bernama