For point number 2 - it is a pandora's box, my friend.  Let me explain.

1.  Financial solvency can't be confused with execution and reputation.  There's an old saying, "I'd rather get a B+ or C- in Strategy, but an A++ in Execution".  Long story short, how sure are u that the "not so reputable developer can execute? What would u do when the finishing is poor? Or defects galore exists and they fix it at a snail's pace?  Unless of course, u mention that this falls within your acceptable risk appetite.

2.  Assuming the condo gets completed on time with no problems (I'll pray for u) - this lies my biggest phobia - the management company of the condo / apartment.  I seriously hope that anyone that buys UC will do some due diligence here.  The Mgmt company of the condo will make or break the condo.  Care to share how due diligence is done here?

By the way, you still have not answered my question on the mgmt company 

Hi.

Well everyone knows the country is now facing a great recession

D@mn.....look's like I missed the action.

What was his original post, and what's the source of controversy?

If I knew that I would be God lol

The let me ask you, who are the ones who get retrenched? Are they holding lot of properties in good locations?

So I'm curious, what will trigger a meltdown in prop prices?

hahahaha....two house bought cash....another one got loan..The only area can cover loan is in Sandakan.....

Now, EVERYTHING is sustained by government's expenditure and bail out.  There will be a POINT when it is NO LONGER sustainable.  At that point, GLC and Government will have VSS.  Then, the property market will melt down in Klang Valley.

How long do you think this CAN continue??

Dreamer

mile 5 taman pertama....you from there also???...

USD downfall will not affect me anyhow.  So, why does it matters to me??

As long as the world system, military and financial system remain as what current situation, this will last until we passed away. 

Now what determine the property price? Supply and demand, just as i any other investment.

Pai,

You are hitting a mental block here.  You are STILL thinking in ALL eggs in a same basket mentality.

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=VFWIX

I owned this mutual fund.  It invested on 2000 largest companies outside of USA.  It is denominated in USD.  So, what happened if USD went down??  Those companies are outside of USA.  Their earning is NOT in USD.  When I collected the dividend, the earning are exchanged into USD.  When USD went down, the earning went up. 

I have earnining in USD, non-USD, reserve in USD and non-USD.

Many of my investment are USD denominated but like VFWIX because they are in US A/C but their earning is NOT in USD.

A person has to diversified across the whole world to preserve their wealth.  A person should not be dependent on any SINGLE country.

Dreamer

Pai,

You CHOOSE not to listen carefully.

Please note that there will be opportunity cost for tying down on property instead of good bargaining on share, unit trust and bond which offer a better return in short time due to the high risk factor.

There is an interesting situation during this round of recession. Landed properties steal the shine from apartments. If you monitor closely pricing trend of landed properties in the Klang Valley, the price is on upwards trend  and in fact it is escalating even faster than the speed in 2007. For instance, asking prices of landed homes in some saught-after areas in PJ, Kepong and Puchong have soared approximately 10% in just these 2-3 months. As for normal apartments, prices are rather stagnant.

Meanwhile, prices of high-end condominiums in KLCC and Mont'Kiara are now stabilised after experiencing a sharp drop of 20%-30% early this year. Demand for this kind of properties is still weak but the are no fire-sales.

It seems you are too bullish on MK. My sister's unit in one of the recently completed condominiums in MK still remain untenanted and unsold since Jan'09.

Based on an insiders info from my friend working in loan department of a local bank, most of the home loans (for secondary market) nowadays are from landed properties actually.

While new apartment launches tend to be priced higher and higher, secondary market for this segment is not hot enough and the price is rather subdued, at this point in time. You may see asking price of some units is high, but you should see the actual demand and transaction. Secondary market of apartment is still trying to play catchup with new launches.

It's slightly better than early this year. In Feb'09, the asking price dropped >20% from 1 year earlier. And now, the asking price increase marginally only and she is willing to dispose it off by a 20% margin compared to the developer's launching price 3 years ago. But there is still no takers and very few enquiries even though the unit has been put in the market for months.

As mentioned in one of my earlier posts, I do agree that prices in MK has stabilised and slightly increased compared to early this year. But it is still not good enough to cover back the 20% drop experienced in Jan/Feb'09. Besides, the percentage of increase is marginal as compared to landed properties.

Actual sales information could be derived from those big players (developers I mean, NOT agents). As such, you could get a more accurate scenario.