Cheras KL shines in a gloomy market

KUALA LUMPUR’S Cheras is known as a food haven and it houses one of the largest night markets in the city offering a variety of street food. Food aside, Cheras has also gained a reputation for being a congested area filled with old housing estates and choked with traffic. Cheras is, after all, one of the city’s oldest residential areas.

Located south-east of Kuala Lumpur, the entire Cheras is a mature township that is spread over Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Cheras borders Kuala Lumpur city centre, Kajang, Balakong and Sungai Besi.

The Kuala Lumpur portion of Cheras is only 6km away from Kuala Lumpur City Centre and has always been popular among homebuyers and property investors given its location, relative affordability of its properties and established amenities.

“Cheras is one of the most established and oldest residential areas in Kuala Lumpur. Landed property prices are generally still within the affordable range and enjoy stable demand,” says PA International Property Consultants Sdn Bhd managing director Jerome Hong.

Hong says there are more than 10 developed landed housing areas in Cheras Kuala Lumpur. Bandar Tun Razak, Taman Midah and Taman Connaught are among the most sought-after areas.

“Bandar Tun Razak is located near an existing LRT station and the urban park of Taman Tasik Permaisuri while Taman Midah is an established and popular residential scheme featuring predominantly landed housing. Taman Connaught is another established housing area that offers many conveniences such as shopping malls and colleges,” Hong explains.

Bandar Tun Razak and Taman Midah consist of mainly 1- and 2-storey terraced houses that have average asking prices ranging from RM530 to RM550 psf, and RM480 to RM500 psf, respectively.

Meanwhile Taman Connaught mainly offers 2-storey terraced houses with average prices going from RM450 to RM480 psf.

Limited landed housing supply

With mainly old houses and limited new supply, the landed housing market in Kuala Lumpur’s Cheras still looks bright for the near future.

“The outlook is encouraging as demand for properties in the more popular housing areas is expected to be sustained due to limited new supply of landed properties in the localities which are supported by good amenities and facilities.

“The improved accessibility and connectivity via the upcoming MRT would also help add a bit of catalyst to the local housing market,” Hong says.

There will be six mass rapid transit (MRT) stations in Cheras KL operating from July next year. The six stations are Cochrane, Maluri, Taman Pertama, Taman Midah, Taman Mutiara and Taman Connaught.

According to data extracted from a property market report by the National Property Information Centre (Napic), there were 41 Cheras KL terraced homes transacted in 2015 compared with 43 in 2014. The average value per transaction in 2015 was RM431,707 versus RM423,721 in 2014.

“The market for landed residential property in Cheras Kuala Lumpur has remained fairly active although the total volume dipped marginally in 2015 due to the overall market slowdown,” Hong says. However, there was an increase in the average value per transaction in 2015 from the previous year.

DTZ Malaysia managing director Eddy Wong says demand for landed homes in Cheras KL is generally still strong, hence the price growth in 2015, although transactions were less than the previous year.

“The landed housing supply is limited due to the scarcity of land here but demand is strong, especially with the expected completion of the MRT line by this year-end,” Wong notes.

He also says the freehold land title is one of the attractions to homebuyers.

“Most of the properties are freehold. It is also in a centralised location with easy access to major highways such as the Middle Ring Road 2, East–West Link and the Smart Tunnel, making Cheras Kuala Lumpur a very attractive proposition for homebuyers,” Wong says.

He also believes that the major new developments in the vicinity such as Ikea Cheras, Mytown Shopping Centre and
Sunway Velocity, which are located five minutes or 3.8km from KLCC in the Cochrane and Maluri areas, and the upcoming Bukit Bintang City Centre (BBCC) project nearby will add to the appeal of living in Cheras KL with its improved accessibility to shopping, dining and entertainment options.

The BBCC is a mixed-use development to be undertaken on the former Pudu Jail site (19.4 acres) over the next 10 years.

“In a nutshell, now is a good time to buy as market sentiments are weak and sellers are less demanding. Buyers should not hesitate if they see something that they like which is fairly priced,” Wong offers.

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This story first appeared in TheEdgeProperty.com pullout on June 24, 2016, which comes with The Edge Financial Daily every Friday. Download TheEdgeProperty.com pullout here for free.