Maximise your time and money

WITH the high cost of living in Malaysia, it is not such a bad idea to use public transport, even if you have a car or motorbike. Why? Public transport such as the light rail transit is time and cost-efficient, and is an easier way to navigate the city.

The Kelana Jaya LRT Line 5 (Gombak-Kelana Jaya) is one of the most popular public transport options among urbanites in the Klang Valley, because it is a 29km line running from the northeastern suburbs of Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya to the west of Kuala Lumpur.

There are 24 stations on this route and it covers property hotspots in the Klang Valley such as the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), Wangsa Maju and Bangsar.

TheEdgeProperty.com identified nine stations as property hotspots, as they had the most non-landed residential listings on the portal.

The nine stations are Gombak, Wangsa Maju, Setiawangsa, Jelatek, Ampang Park, KLCC, Bangsar, Universiti, and Taman Paramount.

We narrowed our research down to non-landed residential listings located within a 1km radius of each station and found over 50 listings. We then calculated the average asking price psf for each project to find the stations with the most and least expensive listings.

Not surprisingly, the station with the highest average asking price psf is KLCC (RM1,421 psf), while the station with the least expensive average asking price psf is Jelatek (RM448 psf).

The most expensive project within 1km of the KLCC LRT station is The Binjai On The Park, which is selling at an average of RM2,573 psf. The luxury condo project consists of two towers with a total 171 units and was completed at the end of 2008. The Binjai On The Park is 1km – a mere 10 minutes on foot – to the KLCC LRT station.

Meanwhile, the most expensive project within 1km of the Jelatek LRT station is Suria Jelatek Residence, which is selling at an average RM514 psf. The leasehold condominium has 340 units across 21 floors. It is only 700m to the Jelatek LRT station.

It is worth knowing that the KLCC and Jelatek stations are just four stations apart. This means that if you are willing to travel an extra bit of time by rail each day to the city centre, you can probably pay just a third of KLCC’s prices to buy an apartment in Jelatek.

Comparing the prices and rents of properties close to the Ampang Park and KLCC LRT stations also yielded interesting results.

Properties near the Ampang Park LRT station, which is only one station away or 600m from the KLCC LRT station, are 40% cheaper than properties near the KLCC LRT station.

The average asking price psf for non-landed homes within a 1km radius of the Ampang Park LRT station is RM1,000.31. Some of the affordable projects include D-Villa Residence (average RM710 psf) and D’Mayang (average RM756 psf).

Do not ask your taxi driver about the value of your home. Go to The Edge Reference Price to find out.

This story first appeared in TheEdgeProperty.com pullout on April 8, 2016, which comes with The Edge Financial Daily every Friday. Download TheEdgeProperty.com here for free.