The changing condo versus the loved landed. My views.

Many months ago, I wrote about condo transactions going down. Recently my friend told me that she was right. Landed properties are the best because it is more limited in supply. I told her, yeah true. That’s why prices will continue to inch up. However, this is also dependent on the whole market and not just because it is a landed property. A terrace house in a good area may have gone up to RM1.5 million today but to me, there’s also a limit to how much this can go up. Would you buy a terrace house (22 x 75) for RM2 million today? I think the answer for majority is NO. Semi-Detached perhaps. Then you ask the question of would you buy Semi-Detached for RM2.5 million? The answer is NO. Unless the Semi-Detached has a huge land size. Now, how about if I ask you if you would buy it if a condo comes with a generous 2,000sf space and has a huge park and facility for your family and security is much more guaranteed, for RM2 million. You may think, NO. Personally, with the passing time, I feel that the right condos will be making its presence felt and your decisions may start to also change.
It is easy to choose when the condo size is just 1,200sf versus a terrace house of which the built up may be 1,800sf and you have space in front of your home and the back of your home. However, if the condo size is similar, the design is much more contemporary and it comes with lots of facilities and more, then if I am looking for a place, I would buy a condo, pay less and save the rest to buy another smaller place to rent out. If you do not agree, sure, continue to buy your landed. I am quite sure you would still earn profits after a few years. However, a check with a few of my friends confirmed that they are not able to say for sure that landed would win, once the conditions I said above is met.
A neighbour moved in recently into my project, Armanee Condominium. (1,740 sf) He bought GROUND floor, thus the view is the car park. You may think, huh? Who would buy a unit with car park view? Listen on. He sold his recently bought terrace house for this project after viewing his friend’s unit in another block, higher floor. He said, ‘I used to think landed is great. I still do. However, this unit gives me a car park view and I can see my car from my unit! It’s like my own car park space. I visited the park which is so huge and my kid loves running around it. Furthermore, there is a guard post on ground floor, thus giving me a personal security guard’. I smiled. I think he has made an objective choice based on actual circumstances. Don’t worry, I am very sure some would continue to insist that but for landed properties there are so many other advantages. Yes, I do agree. That’s what makes the property market so vibrant, both for landed and condo.
written on 23 Aug 2014
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