Homes along LRT, MRT in KL enjoy capital appreciation
> Apartments, condominiums and landed properties expected to see better increases with the improved infrastructure
PETALING JAYA: Prices of residential properties in Kuala Lumpur showed mix movements across the various types of homes last year, with properties close to rail transits enjoying better prices.
According to the Property Market Report 2017, terraced houses, apartments and condominiums experienced marginal capital appreciation, especially those located along the Light Rail Transit (LRT) and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT).
The report, published by the National Property Information Centre (Napic) under the Valuation and Property Services Department (JPPH), revealed that apartments, condominiums and landed properties in the area will see better times with the improved infrastructure.
“It is expected that the magnitude of the positive impact on landed properties may not be as high as strata properties as most residents in landed homes may not use the MRT as frequent as the high-rise,” it said.
Single-storey terraced houses in prominent areas such as Bangsar Park, Lucky Garden, Happy Garden and Overseas Garden recorded an increase of 5.9% to 8.1% while several high-rise schemes recorded double-digit growth exceeding 12%.
These schemes are Tiffani Kiara at Mont’ Kiara, Tricourt at Taman Sri Sentosa and The Orion in Jalan Tun Razak.
“However, in comparison with 2016, some terraced houses, apartments and condominium units recorded a downtrend in the market. As at Q4 2017, the all house price index for the state stood at 201 points, up by 6.5% from 188.7 points in Q4 2016,” said Napic.
The average all house price during the quarter stood at RM798,011, higher than RM749,305 recorded a year ago.
Meanwhile, the residential rental market remained stable last year, with rentals firming up in prominent locations mainly due to tenancy renewal and rental revision.
Residential units, especially high-rise units located close to higher learning institutions and along LRT and MRT routes recorded rental gains, with average rental yield for high-rise units of between 1.2% and 6.6%.
“Single-storey terraced houses in the Bangsar area were already securing rental of RM3,000 per month, similar to that of double-storey terraced houses. High-rise units mainly recorded marginal gains in rental.”
In terms of construction activity, completion and starts in the Kuala Lumpur residential market more than doubled last year to 9,594 units and 20,724 units respectively compared with 2016.
Similarly, new planned supply recorded significant increase of 63.5% to 36,146 units last year from 22,113 units in 2016. Starts were mainly condominiums/apartments in Mukim Petaling and Mukim Kuala Lumpur.
“As at end-2017, there were 464,290 existing residential units with another 40,923 units in the incoming supply and 66,215 units in the planned supply,” said Napic.
Last year, Kuala Lumpur recorded the highest number of new launches in the country with more than 22,000 units launched but sales performance was low at 19.5%. The unprecedented record for the state was partly due to numbers from Rumawip and PPA1M.
All the newly launched units were condominium/apartment units mostly priced between RM250,000 and RM500,000. Kuala Lumpur was also the leader in terms of unsold not constructed residential units, making up 52.8% (6,662 units) of the national total of 12,626 units.
Overall, Kuala Lumpur residential properties recorded a drop in transactions last year to 10,856, 3.5% lower than 11,252 in 2016. However, value of transactions rose 8.1% to RM9.69 billion from RM8.97 billion, driven by higher number of transactions in the RM1 million and above price bracket.
The residential sub-sector is expected to sustain given the ongoing construction of high-end condominiums, serviced apartments and affordable homes.
“The positive news on TRX, Bandar Malaysia and KL Metropolis developments, coupled with the announcement of the KL-Singapore High Speed Rail project, has drawn market attention back to the city centre.
“Although there are concerns of oversupply in the high-end residential segment, prices have stabilised and owners are becoming more realistic in listing their asking prices,” said Napic.
As for affordable homes, several projects under Rumawip and PPA1M have been approved for development this year, offering a total of 12,577 units.