IMO, when comparing for own stay between these 2 area, of course on one side, it will very much depends on which location is closer to the person’s work place, family, favorite hangout place etc. Example for me personally, my family stays around PJ area, and work and leisure etc for me has always been west/north KL/ or KL for me, so I wouldn’t consider Kajang. On the other hand, there are people who are more southern KL than me, who wouldn’t stay at the north 

on the other hand, whether one is looking for shorter term play, or longer terms potential. Southern KL is more developed so far (and hence better for immediate own stayer or shorter term as we will enjoy the immediate perks now or very soon IMO), but if one can bare to shop and look for ammenities about 20 minutes away for now, Northern KL is also coming up very fast and has a greater potential for the long term imo, a lot more people will be working in nort-west kl, e.g looking at Mutiara Damansara-Damansara perdana-Kota Damansara area and upcoming RRI land in sungai buloh.

Huge shopping malls accessibility for new landed in Kajang or Rawang:
Southern KL will have IOI City Mall (without traffic about 20 minutes from new landed in kajang to putrajaya ready in 2014) and Pavilion 2 (without traffic about 30 minutes from new landed in kajang to Bukit Jalil tentatively in 2017/2018)
Northern KL already has the world’s fourth lagest mall - 1 Utama (about 25 minutes away from Rawang to Bandar Utama without traffic, and in the next few years, it will be further expanded to reinforce its largest shopping mall in Malaysia status and connected with MRT.

As these 2 areas evolve with more population migration, there will be more upcoming major mall, as a major mall only need like 50 acres of lands, both Rawang and Kajang/Semenyih has tons of those to build landmarks, but the key is the population to support a landmark shopping mall, which area that will has more affluent residents will most likely have more landmark mall in the near future, in order for those mall to be successful.

Rawang with 5000 acres of mid to premium landed by many major developers with many mentioned about commercials elements in their upcoming project, will play a role to support some major landmark shopping mall in the near future, it is just not here yet.

MRT Stations accessibility for newer landed in Kajang or Rawang:
Kajang will have its MRT station in Bandar Kajang, about 10 minutes from most of the newer landed development project in Kajang to the MRT station in Bandar Kajang.
Rawang does not have MRT directly so far, but it will be 10-20 minutes away from the Sungai Buloh MRT station/KTM Interchange station. For example, the development that will be launched by Gamuda bordering Latar and NSE with new highway interchange will be approximately 10 minutes away, and Anggun/Emerald/BRDB/Tan&Tan developments etc will be 15 minutes away.

Hi boss, you are right I wasn't been clear enough in the content, though I try to made it clearer in the subject as "Huge shopping malls accessibility for new landed in Kajang or Rawang" but the content wasn't clear enough that I am trying to compare the distance taken for new residents in newer landed Rawang and Kajang Dwellers to access to major mall, and the traveling time during of peak traffic It is true that technically Bandar utama/Mutiara Damansara/Kota Damansara area are more like north west than north kl.

I have done quite a bit of research in the newer part of Rawang area, and moved to Rawang from Damansara Perdana about 3 years ago, still feel excited about the developments and never regretted, my vote definitely goes to Rawang. I would like to share my view as below:

The past, the current and the future of Rawang:

In the past, there have been more developments in the southern KL, and lesser developments in northern KL, due to some infamous project that does not take off in 1990s, coupled with a stronger/closer radius contender for landed at that time such as Puchong, Subang, Damansara, Rawang has not much development in 1990s. With so many people bashing this area in the past, developers and home seeker alike avoid Rawang area for many years due to the negative perception. But perception does change, especially with empty land, afterall, lands are neutral, it is the developments in within that give people the perception making them underwater, or making them fly. Perception is changing a lot in Rawang, now more people are comparing Rawang based on rationality, and when we do that, Rawang is quite attractive, about 30 km from downtown KL, G&G homes at attractive price, and vast developments in the pipeline in the future.

In recent years, this weakness in the past, which most developers avoided northern KL area in the past has IMO, turn into a strength now when the population start looking at suburb in greater radius as the population grow rapidly and the perception of rawang change, as major developers now have larger track of undeveloped land to be acquired at cheap/reasonable price suitable for township developments and they are within 30km radium from PJ/downtown KL, now there are more than 5000 acres of lands in combine that will be developed side by side by many developers in the next few years such as Guocoland, Hongbee, Tan&Tan/IGB, Bandaraya, Gamuda, Mah Sing, Glomac, Lowyat,Country garden etc. Each of those major developers will be bringing their creativity, resources, and experience in competing for home buyer, mainly for the next generation of G&G homes.

In the near future, a lot more population who prefer landed has or will shift their preference to G&G landed residences, just like in the 1990s when people shift to highrise with security and facilities from just flat/highrise in the past without security or facilities. Due to the security condition of our country, the trend now is, landed home seeker will continue to seek their homes with security and lifestyle elements, the one that G&G homes can offer them, and Rawang with such a huge track of land, with so many developers has publicly announced that they will developed their lands into G&G homes, is catering towards that trend, many with commercials too will fits into the demands by newer landed home seekers. Greater KL population is growing rapidly, we have 6 million people in 2010, and we are expecting to have 10 million people in 2020, or about a third of the country population that will live in greater KL Alone. That also means, we will need a lot more houses for the new population, and those who prefer G&G landed, from mid range to high end will start and will continue to look for their preferred G&G homes this area, as an area with the most concentrated G&G homes in the pipeline.

IMO, we are barely stretching the surface when we look at the massive change and developments in Rawang these few years, it is just a beginning, as a lot more developers, especially those more “Premium” ones, I personally belief, are waiting for more ongoing infra and amenities to “ripe” before launching their project with more impact. This 5000+ acres will soon fill the demand gap for the next generation of G&G landed home seeker, who prefer security and lifestyle of different concepts, when more developers completed their G&G project in the next few years in Rawang, more commercial will also come online. Mont Kiara is the area with the largest number of high end condo in KL for many years, undisputable. This new Rawang area shall be the area with the largest concentration of Gated and Guarded lifestyle landed Homes by different developers, a massive G&G area unique of its own, the size and magnitude of this G&G area shall be larger than anything in combination of G&G we are seeing now, if we combine, Sierramas, Jade Hills, DPC, Setia eco Park and others successful G&G developments in greater KL together, the new 5000+acres G&G area in Rawang will be larger than all those combined together, and they will be side by side

If investor put aside, let us talk about real own stayer for premium G&G developments with higher affordability, will usually means they will search for home that are close to their business/social circle such as parents friends/network, rather than buy a house, then find a job/start a new business /new life that are close to their new house. Hence, for people with social circle close to Cheras, Puchong, Putrajaya, Cyberjaya is better off staying in Kajang, whereas people with Social circle close to PJ, Damansara Perdana, Kota Damansara, RRIM, Northern KL like myself would prefer Rawang.

With the point above, I would say both Rawang and Kajang has its own potential and will not turn out to be the exact direct competitors in say, the next 10 years, it will be different as they started different, were developed different, and will end up different too, and hence will depends on one's own investment appetite, I will elaborate...

IMO, the Catalyst for Kajang started earlier than Rawang, I would personally take Jade hill as a starting catalyst for Kajang, and AEON anggun Rawang as a starting catalyst for Rawang.

Do you value more on what you see NOW, or do you value more on your belief in the FUTURE?
The catalyst for Kajang, IMO started earlier than Rawang, and hence there are naturally more developments to be seen NOW, as there are more Taiko developer that seen the catalyst like 5 years back and decided to developing Kajang. If any of the taiko developer just seen the catalyst now and wanted to start afresh in Kajang, it might not be that feasible to get sizable land at discount price anymore.

On the other hand, the catalyst for Rawang started later, if take the opening of AEON Rawang as referrence, it was 2 years 3 months ago, so in the last 1-2 years, more major taiko developer started buying lands and put Rawang in their drawing board, but many of those heavyweight developments are not launched yet. But I personally believe that Bandaraya Development, Tan & Tan, Gamuda township that are yet to launch with land side by side, with the AEON area will lead Rawang into a good future.

Kajang started earlier and the trend during that time is more on non G&G/fence and guarded, and some developments are indeed blue G&G. Rawang started later, and due to the deteriorating security concern in our country, most of the township are more towards G&G developments. Rawang will be the most concentrated and largest G&G area in Greater KL built by assortment of taiko developers when you fast forward 5 years, just like mont kiara has high concentration of high end high rise residential, and for landed, I believe G&G is the way to go for the future...

MRT+KTM Kajang vs KTM Rawang
This is one downside for Rawang for now, as there is indeed no MRT station yet. To be fair, when the feasibility studies for MRT is done like 5-6 years back, Rawang is still very much under the radar to consider for a MRT station. But, when more developments completed and population increased, it does not means that MRT will not be linked to Rawang in the future. Adequate Bus/BRT might also link Rawang to Sungai Buloh MRT Interchange since it is a major interchange station for KTM+MRT1+MRT2. MRT is targeting to increase the use of public transportation in greater KL from 12% in 2009 to 40% in 2020, and if that is real, they will need to select a good operator, whom has experience in linking other public transportation seamlessly.

Having said that, that is if we die-die must use public transportation. I personally, does not believe residents staying in higher end enclave will use the public transportation, except their children perhaps who are still studying or without transportation yet, for example, I wouldn't envision elite parents staying in premium enclave using MRT much, they might use it once in a while, but definitely not often, they just doesn't fit into the 40%, they are like the top 1-5% of the 60% who doesn't use the public transport. After all, isn't it nice to drive around in a nice car, when 40% of the car were put OFF road?

Is the Premium for Kajang Worth it? or is the discount for Rawang good enough?
For example, in stock market, blue chip is no doubt proven and hence priced at a premium, but the question is, are the premium price for that particular stock undervalue/overvalue? or is the discount given on the upcoming potential blue chip undervalue/overvalue?

If I am a buyer now, and would like to get a decent G&G, if the price for a G&G LinkHouse/Semi-D in Jade hill and Anggun are the exact same, as an investor, it might made more sense to choose Jade Hill, But, the reality is the entry price are not the same for comparable units. For example, Anggun 3 recently launched G&G DSL are going for about 700k before they were sold out, whereas comparable link house in Jade Hills are about 900k. Semi-ds in Anggun 3 1.3m, Semi-ds in Jade hill with comparable size about 1.7m.

So it is quite hard to say which is better, IMO, this is never an apple to apple comparison, I think it will all depends on individual, and investment horizon

Bro, bukit beruntung is 20+km away from this part of rawang, 2 nse toll away, in majlis daerah hulu klang, whereas this part of southern rawang is closer to sungai buloh and under mps, still in 30km radius from klcc/ pj etc, 5000 acres that are/will be joinly develop by many taiko developers, education hub with chinese school(primary completed, secondary coming), international school, colleges, medical center, commercial, hypermarkets Aeon, tesco completed, econsave coming soon, sunway giza type developments, international themepark designed by sanderson group, regional wholesale, outlet shopping will all be here, this is just some of the existing under con/coming soon developments by the currently active developers, such as Hongbeeland, guocoland, mah sing, lowyat, glomac, da land.

the other taiko developers, like gamuda (nse interchange in progress), bandaraya development (showhouse in progress), and tan &tan havent even unveil their masterplan, but one thing for sure, these area is aiming for middle upper market, a refined, larger version of jadehill with own nse Iinterchange, a refined, larger sierramas 2, and a refined bluwater estate will be built here. 5-10 minutes drive, sp setia templer park, and country garden will also be launching their rawang development soon. If you have imagination, you will know this place will fly

The failure by talam was in 1990s, now we are in 2014 already, even yhe bukit beruntung residential part is also slowly picking up already these few years. Few years back I heard dslwas like 100k, now if 250k means 150%, still very cheap indeed.

This new rawang is enjoying very steady and attractive cap appreciation, and occupancy rate, do some homework and you will know what I mean

This post has been edited by smooth9: Mar 31 2014, 04:05 PM

We are talking about this part of southern rawang la bro, you are talking about another place 20km away and 20 years away, lol

if next door, understandable, but relating some development that is 20km+ away built in 20 years ago, in different mukim, made you sound like sour grape, that is a fact. Why dont you say bukit beruntung is anexes to whole of selangor? Or even malaysia? Since the address is indeed selangor, malaysia still lol, You are making joke of yourself bro