I love mature neighbourhoods. It has everything I need within minutes, probably less than 5 minutes as soon as I start car’s engine. My wife could to send the kids to school and then drive to the office come home in less than half an hour. There would be school choices from nurseries to primary schools and even secondary ones. It’s convenient. In the evenings, she could bring the kids to the nearby kids’ playground. Kids are happy.
For some of these neighbourhoods with public parks, my parents could just go out to the nearby park for a stroll. They could enjoy some fresh air and read the newspaper. (Yes, they still buy newspaper daily)
As for me, for 5 days every week, I will have to leave the house earlier so that I could have breakfast somewhere nearby the office. I hate jams. Especially the“10 seconds move 2 metres kind”. In the evenings, I may be home slightly later than dinner time to skip the jams but that’s the usual lifestyle of a working Malaysian anyway.
For the average Malaysians, there’s only a small hiccup in the above lifestyle; property price. If we are looking at a typical landed property, it is a certainty that the price is over RM1 million today and since the property is not a new one, we would need to spend on some major renovations too including electrical wiring and piping. We could choose a high-rise instead for more affordable prices. However, this depends on whether we are fine with a smaller sized place because the typical prices would be between RM800 – RM1,000 per sq ft for condos in mature neighbourhoods today. A good example? Bangsar South is only 8km away from KL city centre. Another example but 20km away would be Desa Parkcity.
An emerging choice these days for many Malaysian families would be new townships. Think a little further in terms of distance where the property price remains a huge advantage. Sometimes as much as half or more when compared to mature neighbourhoods. For example starting from RM600,000 for a new home versus RM1 million for a secondary place in a mature neighbourhood today.
For these townships, landed homes are still the norm. High-rise units would usually start many years into the township development; when all the big pieces of land within the township are all fully developed and also when the landed properties are already getting expensive.
As for the actual duration, a slightly adjustment in time we start the engine will help tremendously and the usual jam does not start until we are well inside the KL city centre. The first 40 minutes is usually a breeze. Do take a look at the Google Map to understand where the jams are.
The amenities are also being added into the township as the time passes. More nurseries,more schools, more banks, more eateries and many more places to chill with a slice of cake and a cup of coffee. As many would say, the more cafes meant the area is more expensive.
What happens to a township is that the starting prices are usually low enough to attract buyers. Remember Desa Parkcity landed homes when it first started? Yes, they were definitely within the ‘affordable’ category and my good friend told me that there were even unsold units when the keys were handed over to buyers. Fast forward to today and any unit below market price would usually be snapped up, fast.
Do we buy into new townships then? Perhaps a few better questions to ask would be as follows:
1)Does it fulfill minimum requirements for a home; connectivity, amenities etc
2) Do we prefer closer and smaller or further but bigger. (same price anyway)
3) Are we prepared to change our lifestyle for the weekdays, slightly?
4) Would our loved ones enjoy the many things which comes with a township; from parks to lots of trees and sometimes a 5-star standard club house?
5)Are we aiming at good capital appreciation by starting lower? (quite certain by looking at the prices of many townships from its beginning to today.)
Happy deciding.
Perhaps a look at a meticulously planned new township for the family?
