May 21 2013, 12:10 AM
ALIVE!: It’s not all that hard to revive deserted or dying townships in Malaysia as proven by several successful examples.
Rawang has experienced a renaissance in recent years and with investments pouring in from major property developers, it is now a much talked about property hotspot in the Klang Valley. See Kok Loong, Director of Metro Homes Sdn Bhd agrees that Rawang has turned itself around from being a virtual ghost town to being one of the brightest stars in the local property market. “Rawang is an excellent location for landed homes now. In suburban areas like Petaling Jaya and Cheras, land prices have reached a point where it is quite difficult to build mass landed homes That is one of the main reasons for the revitalisation of previously isolated developments such as Rawang and Semenyih.”
Better connectivity
See adds that better connectivity is also key to the growth of Rawang that has seen major developers such as Mah Sing and Guocoland receiving tremendous response for their properties in the area. “The main factor is that Rawang is not so far away from Kuala Lumpur (around 30km to KLCC) and properties there are still priced reasonably as compared to those in prime areas in the Klang Valley. New highways such as the Guthrie Corridor and North South Highway have improved Rawang’s connectivity and spurred growth. This has led to the maturity of new townships such as Kota Emerald with many property buyers looking to upgrade their homes.”
Ahyat Ishak, CEO and Founder of Greater Synergy Group agrees with See’s basic assessment about Rawang and compares it to other previous sleepy towns that had to shake off some negative perceptions before gaining market acceptance. “Rawang is one of the next frontiers of major property developments in Klang Valley. It is in a similar situation to Puchong many years ago. It wasn’t really a desirable address for property investors but now almost everyone wants to stay in Puchong!”
According to Ahyat, apart from better connectivity, the other essential part of revitalising proverbial ghost towns like Puchong and Rawang is the fundamental factor of population growth. “ When Greater KL , PJ and other prime areas like Subang Jaya and Sunway grew and reached its limits, home buyers were left with not much choice and had to explore other areas for alternative housing. Investors are like schools of fish. Once a group starts heading to a particular direction, others are likely to replicate this movement. One of the basic rules of thumb for any development is that once population grows, everything else will follow suit. This holds true for both Puchong and Rawang.”
Worth the wait
Ahyat cites the LDP (Lebuhraya Damansara Puchong) as one of the key factors behind Puchong’s success. “A lot of people don’t realise that LDP was one the main reasons that Puchong literally exploded into the property scene over the years and helped it reach its current level of success. In fact, LDP has now reached maximum capacity and often can’t cope with the high traffic volume. From an investor’s point of view, with hindsight a lot of people wish that they could turn back time. Even I wish I could have put my money in Puchong when the LDP had just started or even in Rawang when the various highways started improving connectivity into the area,” says Ahyat.
The property investment speaker maintains that investments in these areas that started off as sleepy hollows or ghost towns might take some time to bear fruit but once things fall into place, it is worth the wait. “Of course, your investment could go both ways. Property prices in these areas might not pick up easily and the holding period might be beyond five to 10 years for substantial capital appreciation that could be termed as “explosive”. Nevertheless, I don’t see how it couldn’t be at least on par with the average rate of market appreciation,” says the savvy investor, citing other areas like Shah Alam and Cheras as other examples of previous sleepy hollows that have shot into prominence with improved infrastructure and population growth.
Economic opportunities
There are other examples of ghost towns outside KL that have seen drastic economic transformations from their quiet beginnings. One of them is in Sitiawan, Perak that has come in leaps and bounds and is now home to some of the most expensive land prices in Perak.
Jimmy Doh, Executive Director of Setia Awan, one of the major property developers in Sitiawan explains that the town itself has come a long way since its low-key beginnings as a settler town in the early 1900s and is now one of the fastest growing townships in Perak. Before the 1980s, Sitiawan was just another sleepy town with many of its young population abandoning the area for better living and economic opportunities elsewhere in the country.
“Demand for residential properties in Sitiawan rose sharply in the 1980s. As there were only a few developers at the time, all new properties were snapped up in no time. From just clusters of wooden Chinese villages and shop houses, Sitiawan’s residential and commercial properties sector now offers residents and investors an array of property types to choose from. Sitiawan has been transformed over the decades from a primarily agricultural base such as rubber, palm oil and poultry farming to a wider range of business activities. The main catalysts for economic growth have been prawn farming, birds nest production, tourism, transportation as well as shipping and maritime spurred by government projects such as the setting up of the Lumut Royal Malaysian Navy base and Lumut Port,” adds Doh.
Catalytic activities
Doh further elaborates that in Manjung, the district where Sitiawan is located, land prices have skyrocketed in recent years. “Valuation of land is currently very high. One of the reasons for this is that huge tracts are still plantation land, mainly palm oil plantations owned by Sime Darby. Consequently, supply of land is scarce and holding costs for developers are also high. Shop lots that were going for RM100,000 a few years ago have increased in value to RM400,000 and houses that used to sell for RM50,000 are now worth between RM130,000 - RM150,000 due to the boom in the birds nest industry,” explains Doh.
The example of Sitiawan shows that it is a combination of various catalytic activities rather than an over reliance on a single factor that may regenerate a ghost town. At the end of the day, it is often not enough for a property hotspot to have only one fundamental economic driver. Various factors come into play including as some like to believe, the feng shui of the area. Hence, when talking about rejuvenating a ghost town, the introduction of new influencing factors often make a big difference as to whether the revival would be a success or not.
Read more: Reawakening ‘sleepy’ towns - RED - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/red/reawakening-slee...6#ixzz2TqjZyMbr
This post has been edited by 37 Exposures: May 21 2013, 12:11 AM
Mah Sing Group to launch new M Residence@Rawang, from the star
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