Malaysia’s Property Market: Less Parking, Lower Costs?

Malaysia’s Property Market: Less Parking, Lower Costs?

Parking space in Melbourne or Hong Kong is very expensive, what about Malaysia?

If we search for properties in Melbourne, we could notice that for some properties in the CBD, especially those which looks to be slightly lower priced, it does not come with a parking space. This is because building the car parking bay is an extra cost and since these high-rise units could be within walking distance to tram / train / bus stops, thus, the parking space is not necessary.

This is similar to Hong Kong where a parking space alone could already be worth over HK$2 million (RM1.06 million). What about Malaysia then? Are developers forced to increase the property price because they are forced to build a lot of parking space? Well, if this the case, then maybe the following news may mean lower property prices. Especially for units nearby public transport stations.

Article in malaymail.com. Housing developers are urged to consider reducing the number of parking spaces in new projects developed near public transport stations.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the proposal had been submitted to the Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT), noting that the current requirement of one or two parking bays per residential unit was among the factors contributing to higher property prices.

“For projects close to public transport stations such as the LRT or MRT, parking requirements could be lowered to encourage residents to use public transport,” he said at a press conference after officiating the new Multiplex Land Sdn Bhd office building and the pre-launch of Residensi Alamanda Heights here today.

He said several transit-oriented development (TOD) projects in Kuala Lumpur had been allowed to apply for relaxation of parking requirements from local authorities. Article in malaymail.com.

Ready to walk, everyone?

By the way, near public transport station, even in places such as Hong Kong or Singapore would still require some walking yeah. It’s am not too sure about others but as a Malaysian living in Malaysia, walking under the scorching sun is not comfortable for me. Plus the fact that even petrol remains very cheap and the latest Proton Saga 1.5 litre is merely RM38k… (News here: Proton Saga starting from just RM37.9k). So, if we are buying these high-rise units without much parking space in the future, we just need to be ready to walk a bit lah. Probably 5-8 minutes should still be acceptable? Please tell me your thoughts too, whether this latest suggestion from our Transport Minister makes enough sense or not.

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