Sharon Kong, [email protected]
KUCHING: The property buying trend in Sarawak has notably been moving towards high rise developments, with some developers and property players attributing this to lifestyle preferences and the ‘convenient factor’.
At Sarawak Housing and Real Estate Developers Association (Sheda) Home and Property Roadshow 2014 yesterday, Awang Saifeluddin, sales manager of Travilion, told The Borneo Post that indeed, the trend is moving towards condominiums as opposed to landed properties.
He believed that this was mainly due to convenience.
“As a lot of people tend to be more busy in their daily lives, a lot of them will feel more convenient to stay in a condominium where a lot of things will be taken care of.
“For example, the security, parking is there, and it is also easy for them to travel. So, I believe it is actually a very healthy trend,” he opined, adding that those people who want more land, they still can find those landed properties available here.
In Kuching specifically, Awang opined that the trend has just started to pick up. In regards to how sales has been in the past three days during the roadshow, he noted that there has been a lot of enquiries with much follow-up to be done as usual.
Developer Naim Engineering Sdn Bhd (Naim) was also seen at the roadshow, displaying high rise buildings in Kuching and Bintulu.
Syazwana Nazlin Che Ramli, sales and marketing executive of Naim, also noticed that there has been a lot of upcoming condominiums.
“They focus more on high rise probably mostly because of the lifestyle now. Most people who work, probably they don’t have time to manage their things. The important thing is security and convenience.
“Like for our Bintulu Paragon, the condominium is located right next to the shopping mall. When you go down (from the condominium), you can basically have everything around, food, entertainment, and everything together,” she shared, adding that security-wise, landed properties are less secure, unless it is gated.
She opined that it generally depends on buyers’ needs when purchasing the type of property. As landed and high rise properties are almost the same price, so it basically depends on what consumers want. For example, families prefer to purchase landed properties.
When queried on the feedback for Naim for the past three days, Syazwana highlighted that there have been a lot of enquiries, with some making bookings. This has especially been the case for Kuching Paragon.
For Kuching Paragon, around 50 per cent of the units at its first block has been sold since before the roadshow.
Annie Bong, business development director of PWP Properties (S) Sdn Bhd (PWP) also opined that the trend of purchasing units of high rise buildings here has started to catch up.
She noted that this was because they have already changed their lifestyles. She highlighted that people have started purchasing condominium units now mainly because of securities and facilities available.
In addition, family dynamic changes also play a role in the change in property buying trends here.
Bong explained that for those elderly parents, whose kids have already moved out or have migrated elsewhere, they would usually decide to move from their detached or semi-detached houses to a more compact environment which does not require too much effort to manage.
Bong noted that easy maintenance was a main factor and that it is also easy for them to travel without worries as there is security at the condominium.
Generally, Bong observed that the prices of condominium units are only just catching up to those of landed properties and are thus are still considered reasonable at the moment.
She explained that it generally depends on the facilities and all the benefits that go with the property package and that is why they (condominium units) are not considered overpriced because property buyers have to see what the condominium offers them.