ARTICLE Jan 28, 2015 Puchong South gaining momentum.

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1 ARTICLE Jan 28, 2015 Puchong South gaining momentum. Ask the man in the street if he knows where Puchong South is and even if he is from Puchong himself, he may stare blankly at you. That is until he registers that perhaps you are referring to the southern portion of Puchong. This is because there is no official delineation for Puchong South and even real estate professionals don t fully agree on the areas that fall under it. Although there is a toll plaza near the end of the Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP) that is called Puchong Selatan (South), it is only recently that the term is being more commonly heard. It is more important to note that the term is not found in Selangor s Structure Plan or Local Plan. It was not introduced by the state or any of its local authorities but has been used by some property developers and real estate agents since 2012, says property consultancy Landserve Sdn Bhd managing director Chen King Hoaw. The term was made popular by property developers and real estate agents who banking on Puchong s booming property scene hoped that attaching it to their projects in the not-so-glamorous part of town would boost sales. These projects are often located in southern Puchong and Greater Puchong, such as in Seri Kembangan. Among them are serviced apartment developments O2 City, Elements, Zeva and the upcoming Sfera Resudence, and The Atmosphere, which comprises retail space and shopoffices. According to Chen (pic), the official Puchong covers both sides of Jalan Puchong, stretching from Taman Kinrara in the north to Nusa Putra and Aman Putra in the south. It borders jalan Kelang Lama in the north; Subang Jaya, USJ, Putra Heights and Bandar Saujana Putra in the west; Bukit Jalil and Seri Kembangan in the east; and Cyberjaya in the south. While the northern part of Puchong falls under Subang Jaya Municipal Council, its souther portion is under the jurisdiction of Sepal Municipal Council (MPS). Chen believes Puchong South covers the souther portion of Puchong under MPS, plus adjoining land bounded by the ELITE Highway to the west, Seri Kembangan to the east and Cyberjaya/Putrajaya to the south. Advertisements placed by developers and real estate agents confirm this. We estimate this area to cover about 49.7 sq km (about 12,280 acres). LaurelCap Sdn Bhd executive director Stanley Toh (pic), however, says Puchong South starts at Bandar Saujana Puchong and ends at the northern side of the South Klang Valley Expressway (SKVE). To me, Puchong South does not include all the developments in the southern section of Puchong, like Puchong Utama, Puchong Intan, Puchong Hartamas, Puchong Permai and Puchong Prima, but rather those in its southern flank.

2 Toh observes that developers use Puchong South to describe areas such as Taman Lestari Perdana, Granview, Taman Saujana Puchong, Bandar Bukit Puchong, Taman Lestari Putra, Bandar Putra Permai, Taman Equine, D Alpinia, Taman Mutiara Indah, 16 Sierra, The Atmosphere, and O2 City. Some areas., such as Lestari Perdana, Lestari Putra, Taman Equine and Putra Permai, were developed long before the developers of newer projects, such as O2 City, 3 Elements, The Atmosphere and Zeva, came up with the term Puchong South (For the purpose of this focus, we will refer to Puchong South in its widest context, covering the entire southern portion of Puchong, from the areas near the south end of the Ayer Hitam forest reserve, including Saujana Puchong to the areas bordering the ELITE Highway, the areas up to the border of Cyberjaya/Putrajaya and just across the edge into Seri Kembangan.) Changing image The name Puchong South may be gimmick but one real estate consultancy regards it as one of the fasters-growing suburbs in the Klang Valley. Property development along this southern corridor has been brisk since the early 1990s and surgerd recently with demand for properties gaining traction. Coming to this nect of the woods two decades ago would have made you think that you had taken a wrong turning. This used to be the home of oil palm estates, villages and low and medium-cost housing. But I is a different story today. With developers offering more high-end developments, the area is experiencing a gradual but welcome makeover. Private estate land, forests and idle mining land have been cleared and developed into townships, observes Landserve s Chen. Among those that have sprung up since the 1990s are Taman Meranti Jaya, the later phases of Bandar Bukit Puchong, Taman Desa Air Hitam, D Island, Putra Perdana, Nusa Putra and Aman Putra along Jalan Puchong, just before reaching Cyberjaya; Prima Tropika, Lestari Puchong, Putra Permai, Pinggiran Putra and Taman Equine. Subsequently, other projects emerged, such as D Alpinia by Hap Seng Land Sdn Bhd, Bandar 16 Sierra by Lush Development Sdn Bhd (a subsidiary of IOI Properties Group Bhd), Taman Meranti Indah and Taman KiPark on the other side of the LDP. All these newer developments are selling well, says Chen. Many of them are landed housing estates offering mainly terraced houses with some semi-detached houses and bungalows. However, more high-density and commercial developments are coming up due to the scarcity of land and a growing population, comments LaurelCap s Toh. Among the new commercial developments in Puchong South are Puchong Gateway by Newfields Property, 3 Elements by Titijaya bhd and the 20-acre intergrated development the Atmosphere in Taman Prima Tropika, which is a join venture between Tempo Properties and Ekson Corp. In the

3 past, property investors and home buyers avoided this side of town, especially after its image was tarnished by Talam Corp when it failed to complete some phases of Taman Lestari Puchong and Saujana Puchong, says Toh. But things are changing. The population here now comprises mainly families and working adults of middle to upper-middle-incoming groups. We notice that many of the residents are migrants from other states. There are many students and workers from Cyberjaya who live in Puchong South as well because rents are lower, he says. Puchong South s changing face is due to the rising affluence of its population as well as developers who offer newer and higher-end homes with lifestyle elements, thus attracting more people from the upper medium to high-income group to set up home here. Among the more recent luxury lifestyle projects here are IJM Land Bhd s Granview an exclusive gated community of semidees, zero-lot bungalows and bungalows in Saujana Puchong and the upcoming 46-storey Sfer Residence in Bandar Putra Permai in Seri Kembangan, which developer YNH Property Bhd has said will be the tallest building in the vicinity. The more affluent population also comprises up graders moving out of the congested parts of Puchong, preferring the more sedate and greener environment in the souther corridor. there is a growing number of people moving out of Puchong and going into Puchong South and Cyberjaya to avoid the massive congestion in the town centre. Many of them are owners of SMEs and SMIs with factories in Puchong, so for them to choose to stay in Puchong South makes a lot of sence, says Toh. According to C B Richarn Ellis (M) Sdn Bhd executive director Paul Khong, Puchong, especially Puchong South, is one of the fastest-growing suburbs. It is becoming a second Cheras in terms of household income and house values.

4 (Click to enlarge) Puchong South generally refers to the southern portion of Puchong covering the areas bounded by the ELITE Highway to the west, to the areas nearing the borders of Cyberjaya/ Putrajaya and just across into Seri Kembangan to the east. Puchong South offers good accessibility, is a mature location for industrial commercial and residential purposes and has myriad of recreational and shopping amenities readily available, he offers. We confidently expect a continue rise in both residential and commercial values and unlike Cheras, the presence of light industrial areas in Puchong adds to its sustainability as a strong middle class suburb that provides copious employment opportunities in both secondary and tertiary industries. The employment opportunities in and around Puchong, Khong adds, are pulling the population to the area while rising property prices in other areas are pushing investors to consider the more mature suburb locations there. Pull factors Chen and Toh concur. Home prices in the far more developed parts of the Klang Valley, including Puchong, Petaling Jaya and Subang Jaya, have escalated beyond the reach of low to mediumincome earners while the prices of shopoffices have also increased to levels that translate into low returns, says Chen. Besides, some of the properties in these areas are obsolete in design as they are more than 15 years old. In comparison, Puchong South offers similar but newer properties with better product features at relatively lower prices.

5 According to Toh, 2-storey terraced homes of 1,400 to 1,600 sq ft in the middle-income areas, such as Lestari Perdana, Saujana Puchong and Putra Permai, are going for between RM430,000 and RM450,000 on the secondary market whilst the 2-storey semidees are around a million ringgit each. Newer and more contemporary 2-storey terraces homes with better finishing and lifestyle elements are priced around RM700,000 to RM800,000. One of the best things going for Puchong South is its location and accessibility. It has a good network of roads that link it to various towns and cities in the Klang Valley: a) LDP access to Cyberjaya, Subang Jaya and all the way to Bandar Sri Damansara, Bandar Menjalara and Desa PArkCity; b) Jalan Putra Permai; c) SKVE access to Bangi, Putrajaya, Bandar Saujana Putra and all the way to Pulai Carey; d) Putrajaya-Cyberjaya Expressway access to Putrajaya, Cyberjaya Expressway access to Putrajaya, Cyberjaya, KLIA and klia 2; e) Maju Expressway (MEX); and f) North-South Expressway Central Link (ELITE) There is also a back road from Lestari Perdana leading to Taman Puncak Jalil and exiting trough Bandar Kinrara to Lebuhraya Bukit Jalil, offers Toh. On top of these, there is the proposed SKIP Expressway that starts from the LDP near The Atmosphere to the north where it branches out trough Taman University Indah and Taman Sri Serdang as well as to Bandar kinrara, There is also the controversial Kidex Highway that, if implemented, will start from Taman Lestari Perdana in Puchong South to Kinrara and on to Petaling Jaya and joining the LDP at the Tropicana City Mall. Given the modern road network, more people have begun to accept the idea of living in this part of the Klang Valley, says Chen, adding that the highwats provide access from Puchong South to Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, Shah Alam, Klang, Kajang and KLIA within 45 minutes. The three major trunk roads Jalan Puchong, Jalan Pulau Meranti and Jalan Putra Permai also connect all major townships in the area. With the Puchong areas currently sorely lacking public transport, the upcoming Ampang LRT extension (from Sri Petaling trhough Puchong ending at Putra Heights) and MRT 2 (from sungai Buloh to Putrajaya trhough Serdang) will give the locale a boost. Residents also benefit from ready amenities, such as hypermarkets, malls, public and international schools, higher learning institutions and hospitals in the area, including those in Cyberjaya and Putrajaya. Major landmarks here include the purpose-built premises of George Kent (M) Sdn Bhd in Taman Meranti Jaya; the Giant hypermarket, the Selangor Wholesale Market; Aeon Shopping Centre and Alice Smith School in Taman Equine. For Toh, a downside risk to Puchong South s potential is that a significant amount of the land there is state-owned and leasehold while for Chen, it is the presence of the large Malay reserve tract that lies between Puchong and Putrajaya. Otherwise, we can expect

6 the integration of Cyberjaya and Putrajaya with the much more developed part of Puchong and Seri Kembangan in the north to be accelerated, says the latter. Hot Spot for landed homes Nevertheless, real estate consultants are upbeat about Puchong South and consider it an investment hot spot, especially for landed homes. Puchong South is primarily and owner-occupier market, so it is suitable for investment in terms of capital appreciation rather than for rental yields, says Toh. Due to its good and ready infrastructure and amenities, he sees continued demand for landed homes on the secondary market in the future. The future will also see fewer launches of terraced homes. According to Landserve s data (see table), the prices of 2-storey terraced houses on the secondary market have generally increased between 27% and 92% over five years (2010 to 2014). We expect prices of such landed homes in these schemes to continue trending upwards, albeit at a slower rate, as demand moderates, Chen says. The prices of shopoffices in established schemes, such as Putra Permai, Taman Equine and Puchong Gateway, gew at a slower rate of between 24% and 79% over the same period while the prices of grould floor shops in The Atmosphere rose a marginal 9% from RM1 million in 2012 to RM1.09 million in For those thinking of investing in commercial properties here, Chen says it is important to ensure that the development is strategically located. Avoid those that are located in areas that have low catchment and are bypassed by the roads. Always go for units that are highly visible with ample parking space. Toh also thinks it is worth investing in the shopoffices here, considering the rapid population growth and shortage of commercial land for future development. Many of the shopoffices have good frontage and exposure to existing and upcoming highways, which is key to investing in shopoffices.

7 CBRE s Khong believes that number of good quality developers in the area, such as Hillcrest Gardens Sdn Bhd (developer of Puchong Utama) and IOI (developer of Bandar Puchong Jaya, the largest township in Puchong; Bandar Puteri Puchong and 16 Sierra), have contributed to the longterm value accretion of Puchong South. We anticipate future residential and commercial releases to do well. One of the significant upcoming projects in the area is Puchong Prime at Taman Puchong Utama by Hillcrest Gardens. It comprises 47 three-storey to six-storey Green Building Index-certified shopoffice. The project is expected to be launched in 1Q2015. Ongoing launches include that of Sfera Residence serviced apartments (built-up from 979 sq ft; priced at RM540,000 onwards) as well as Sherwood bungalows at Granview, offering 27 completed units with built-up from 5,418 sq ft and priced at RM2.9 million onwards. - Source: TheEdgeMalaysia -