By Sharen Kaur
sharen@nstp.com.my

THE market for residential properties has softened since the beginning of this year and is likely to continue into 2009, market experts say. The potentially negative influence on the sector is supply, said real estate valuer Regroup Associates Sdn Bhd executive chairman Christopher Boyd.

In a recent survey undertaken by Regroup, it showed that there is an existing supply of 19,183 condominium units in Kuala Lumpur, with 13,902 units more under construction.
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PROPERTY TALK (By S.C. CHEAH)

THE guest list at the Kuala Lumpur launch of The Chicago Spire at the Mandarin Oriental on April 2 comprised the who’s who in Malaysia, with members of the royal family, corporate bigwigs and politicians eager to know more about the world’s tallest exclusively-residential building.

Selling agents Savills Rahim & Co which hosted the launch closed a few sales that day. “We’re confident of having five buyers, possibly more soon. This (number) is quite big to be sold in KL for such a high-end property,” said Savills Rahim & Co chairman Datuk Abdul Rahim Rahman.

Indeed, at a lofty height of 150 floors and soaring 2,000 ft (609.6m), The Chicago Spire is higher than the current world’s tallest building, the Taipeh 101. It is also taller than the Petronas Twin Towers, at one time the tallest buildings in the world. The Burj Dubai at 2,500 ft currently under construction will take the crown. Penang Hill is 2,723ft above sea level.

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Finally, new season of Property Ladder is here! After months of repeat of old episodes, I’m quite interested to see what Sarah Beeny’s got up her sleeves! Property Ladder is an UK show that documents property developers journey to climb up the ladder and is assisted by Sarah Benny, a well-known developer herself.

I just love the way Sarah puts facts in front of the would-be property developers’ faces; and some of them seriously have got totally no clue of what needs to be done! She speaks so much sense that I couldn’t help but to agree with every single suggestion that she has put out.

For instance, when dressing a property, ensure that you don’t over personalise it, remember you are selling it, it’s not for your own stay, and think the mass market and never narrow your target market. Or for rental property, how it’s advisable to opt for more durable worktop in the kitchen, or a darker shade of sofa. Pretty 101 to me, but some of these newbies really have no clue! And at times they just go against what Sarah advised and at the end, they all somehow regret to have not follow Sarah’s advise earlier on.

Recommended watch for all property developer and real estate enthusiasts! For Malaysian peeps, you can try to download the episodes off torrent sites. In tonight’s episode, it seems that Sarah’s got preggers…again!

Update: You can now watch the episodes on demand on 4oD (Channel4 on Demand) and you can even download high quality version of the episodes and they valid for 48 hours after first watch.

Related Links
Property Ladder on Channel4
Episode 1: Bishop’s Waltham and Windsor

Did you guys catch the full page advert on the Chicago Spire last Saturday? I remember seeing the exact same advert (with different contact details of course) in an in-flight magazine enroute from Zurich back to London; and thought what a peculiar building it was…it looks pretty much like a screw! So it caught me by surprise when I saw the full-page ad being splashed in our local The Star. I started to wonder if Malaysians do have the power to buy into this kinda development, which starts at about USD750,000 (RM2.391million) for the smallest studio unit all the way to USD40million for the penthouse with totals up to 1200 condo units. They have also added a guaranteed 7.5% returns for the first two years.

Anyway, seeing this being launched in KL, this could signal two things: either they have done enough research to know that there are a lot of Malaysians here who are loaded with cash who would invest, or they just had no choice to launch it overseas since the credit crunch crisis over at the Stateside. The Chicago Spire is marketed locally by Rahim-Co Savills.

31 Mar 2008: Offshore: Chicago Spire takes on the world (The Edge)

Singapore investors were among the first few hundred given the chance to cherry pick apartments in the soon-to-be-tallest skyscraper in the Northern Hemisphere, the 2,000ft-high Chicago Spire in the US. Recently, more than 800 people turned up for the private launch on a Friday evening, followed by a weekend property exhibition of The Chicago Spire.

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