I have, in the past, been awed by the works by the guys at Seksan Design. I stumbled across their website by chance and truly loved the work they had done, particularly this refurbishing project on a rather old property in PJ Sect 16. I loved how the old and modern elements blend together, creating a space that I would truly dream of. Seksan had a feature on the papers yesterday, this time with another refurbishment project on a Sec17 70s home. They are asking for RM4.2 for that prop. A Sec17 property with about 6000sf land is currently going for about RM1.8m. Now if only I could guess the cost of such project but if they do manage to achieve their asking price, they are in for huge profits!

While snooping through their website, I have also just realised that Seksan was responsible for the landscaping of Hijauan Kiara. Much have been said about their amazing landscaping of this project, which has in a way helped generate much interest in the project. Bukit Kiara Properties have also been milking every cent out of the money they spent on the landscaping of the project by promoting how amazing the landscaping is (the first granite pool in Mont’ Kiara, RM200,000 Royal Dutch turf, first to have Spa-island – whatever that means, German-imported Dedon garden furniture, etc) in every way possible. But the question remains, did they miss out in the most important element in any project – the internal finishing of the units? Time will tell, so far the project has been VP-ed and am eagerly awaiting for owners feedback on the finishing.

Write up on the Section 17 refurbishment after the jump.

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By Tim Leonard (The Edge)More forward purchases and higher benchmark prices are expected in the sale, purchase and rental of office space in Klang Valley this year. Knight Frank Malaysia’s executive director Sarkunan Subramaniam, presenting The Edge/Knight Frank Klang Valley Office Monitor for 4Q2007, says the lack of premium office space in the Klang Valley will also be a contributing factor towards the downward movement of yield compression.

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City & Country: Your view of the property market and going forward, are you excited?
Datuk K Salman Younis: We are definitely excited. There is a lot happening in Malaysia and we see a lot of opportunities with the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP). We are involved in a number of projects under the 9MP and hope to be involved in more. We are currently selling projects in all of the initiatives announced… the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) and the Sabah and Sarawak initiatives. A lot of the economies are being affected by the slowdown in the US due to the subprime crisis. Most markets are soft and the general feeling is that if the banks declare the full extent of losses by mid-year, the situation should start improving from September.Malaysia, by and large, has not been affected badly and there are many reasons for this – the 9MP, various government initiatives and strong prices for its commodities on the market, among others. The sectors facing a slowdown are the high-tech ones, which are not a major component of the Malaysian economy.Malaysia should continue to do okay. The country has not been affected by the US crisis also because the prices of real estate here are still low compared to the region, making it an attractive buy. We see more and more foreigners coming to buy real estate.

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By Loo Pik Kwan (TheEdge)

While the cost of building materials continues to rise and developers and contractors continue to lament the cost of doing business, consumers may not be spared as it translates to higher prices of properties. Construction projects may also be stalled as building contractors and sub-contractors fail to absorb the rising cost.

According to quantity surveying firm Davis Langdon & Seah (M) Sdn Bhd’s director Loo Ming Chee, house prices could go up between 10% and 15% this year in tandem with the overall escalation of construction contract sums estimated to be 16% to 18%.

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By Au Foong Yee and Allison Lee (TheEdge)

Until recent years, Kuwait Finance House (KFH) was but another foreign name that showed interest in Malaysian real estate before it moved into a mega retail and residential project – Pavilion Kuala Lumpur – in the heart of the city.KFH has established itself as a key real estate player in Malaysia through participation in various Islamic financing schemes and real estate funds, which have crossed the US$2 billion (about RM6.4 billion) mark.

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