Demand for high-end condos sustainable, says researcher

KUALA LUMPUR: The demand for highrise residential properties, especially in the in the high-end segment in areas such as Kuala Lumpur's Mont'Kiara and in the Golden Triangle is sustainable, said Ho Chin Soon Director of Ho Chin Soon Research, a property information company which specializes in land use and ownership maps.

The demand in these areas is supported by the fact that urban dwellers have resisted going to the outskirts of the Klang Valley as these areas are far from the city centre, Ho told an audience of about 130 people at a property market outlook talk organised by property developer Sunrise Bhd on Saturday Jan 23.

"Whatever little land left in the city will be used to build high-end high, ,rise residential properties even in areas where land prices are already high," he said.

A slowly but surely growing urban population in the city will help fuel demand for these properties as  residential space in the heart of the Klang Valley is limited, Ho stressed. Thus, “whatever small growth in population, is all going into the high rise buildings,” he said.

Despite ample supply of high-end high rise residential properties, "there is no need to fear", he added, dispelling fears of an oversupply of such property types. “Sometimes you cannot use a strict supply and demand rule to analyse the situation, you got to do (apply) a little bit of 'freakanomics' (theory).”

In their bestseller book - Freakanomics, University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt and New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner try to link and explain an economic theory which aren’t covered by traditional existent economic theories, with some real life events that do not totally make up to human logic and sense.

Ho, who read the book cited for example, “When doctors went on vacation, less people died; but when the doctors came back, more people died. Thus, strictly (speaking) sometimes the demand and supply curve, it doesn’t work out – and something else is happening".

Ho also told theedgeproperty.com via a telephone query that “there was a small (price) bubble before (in Mont'Kiara and the Golden Triangle area) but it has already burst and prices have already come down.” He added that prices in these luxury residences are sustainable, despite being sold at high price tags.

Matured high-end areas such as Bangsar, he cites, gives him enough evidence to support his views and analysis of the latest property market scenario for areas such as Mont Kiara and the Golden Triangle today.