Knight Frank believes KL high-end residential market has bottomed out

Knight Frank expects to see more new launches and transactions in 2020 in the prime areas of Kuala Lumpur city — Bukit Bintang, Ampang Hilir, Mont Kiara, Bangsar, and Damansara Heights.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Kuala Lumpur high-end residential market is believed to have bottomed out in the middle of last year, according to Knight Frank Malaysia’s latest report, “Real Estate Highlights 2nd Half of 2019”.

This has set the right mood for the segment to make its way back slowly, as evidenced by the higher number of launches in the second half of 2019.

Last year saw the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) taking shape with the completion of Menara Prudential and Exchange 106.

“Complementing these commercial developments, Core Previous Development Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between China-based China Communication Construction Group (CCCG) and Malaysia’s WCT Holdings Bhd, seized this opportune time to launch Core Residence @ TRX.

“Other notable residential projects unveiled during the second half of 2019 were Conlay, a joint development by Eastern & Oriental Bhd and Mitsui Fudosan Group, and Agile Embassy Garden, the third project of Agile Group Holdings,” said the report today.

These new launches are selling between RM1,900 per sq ft and RM2,200 per sq ft on average.

Knight Frank Malaysia managing director Sarkunan Subramaniam said there was also an increase in foreign buyer interest in Malaysian properties from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, China, Singapore, USA, Australia, UK, Germany and other European countries.

“Moving into 2020, we expect to see more new launches and transactions in the prime areas of Kuala Lumpur city – Bukit Bintang, Ampang Hilir or U-Thant, Mont Kiara, Bangsar and Damansara Heights or Kenny Hill.

“In addition to these prime areas, there are also some established neighbourhoods or upcoming hotspots that are drawing the attention of the upper-income population and high-net-worth individuals.

“These include Desa ParkCity, Taman Tun Dr Ismail and the upcoming financial district of Imbi/Pudu/TRX,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the general residential segment, the report showed that several key policies, as announced during Budget 2020, are expected to further stimulate the market.

“These include measures, among others, such as the lowering of the foreign buyer price threshold from RM1 million to RM600,000 for unsold high-rise properties in urban areas, the introduction of the rent-to-own financing scheme and revising the base year for real property gains tax,” it added. - FMT