City & Country: Infrastructure paving the way for hot spots in Malaysia

FOLLOWING the infrastructure is, and continues to be, sound advice in property investment, according to Ho Chin Soon, director of Ho Chin Soon Research Sdn Bhd.

“My way of determining new hot spots for property investors is by following the infrastructure,” he says.

With the development of big infrastructure projects such as the mass rapid transit (MRT) in Greater Kuala Lumpur, the undersea tunnel project in Penang and the cross border rail link in Johor Baru, Ho expects these three locations, including Iskandar Malaysia, to have the most number of property hot spots.

“Penang has opened its second bridge and we will see some of its impact,” he tells City & Country.

Ho: I’ve never really encouraged people to invest in Batu Kawan before

The 24km Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge is the second bridge to connect Penang island to the mainland. The dual carriageway toll bridge starts at Batu Maung on the island and ends in Batu Kawan on the mainland.

“I’ve never really encouraged people to invest in Batu Kawan before,” he says, adding that in the long term, IKEA would want to replicate its success in Mutiara Damansara, Selangor, and its entry into Penang will boost the price of surrounding land.

The proposed 7.2km undersea tunnel that will connect George Town to Butterworth will also have an impact on the property market.

In Greater KL, look out for potential hot spots along the MRT blue line that is expected to be completed in 2016, he says.

The blue line stretches 60km from Sungai Buloh to Kajang and there will be 35 stations, passing areas such as Kota Damansara, Mutiara Damansara, Bandar Utama, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Bukit Damansara, Cheras, Bandar Tun Hussein Onn and Balakong.

Another major infrastructure project is the cross-border rail link between Singapore and Johor Baru.

Ho recently attended an exhibition organised by the Singaporean government at the Urban Redevelopment Authority office, where he saw the draft of the 2013 Singapore Masterplan.

“Singapore’s plans for the city, in particular developments in Woodlands, will affect Iskandar Malaysia,” he says.

Ho will be speaking at The Edge Investment Forum on Real Estate 2014 to be held on April 19 at The Royale Chulan Damansara in Mutiara Damansara.

His presentation, Are there any more hotspots — where to put your money?, will look at existing and potential property hot spots in Greater KL, Penang and Johor, and how proposed, completed and upcoming infrastructure projects will impact an area.


This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on March 31, 2014.