TO say that the opening of the Second Penang Bridge has injected new life into the real estate potential of Seberang Perai is an understatement.

THE first thing that strikes you when you arrive in Batu Kawan in mainland Penang using the newly opened second bridge is how bare the area is. Plantations and trees flank most stretches of the road running through the town and there are few cars and some houses. Several cleared tracts ready for development can also be seen.

ABUNDANT and more affordable land as well as a large population have attracted more developers to invest in Seberang Perai. There are also more job opportunities in the mainland now as industrial businesses shift their operations there. More young adults have also moved from the island to the mainland as property prices are more affordable there.

FORMERLY known as Batu Kawan, this old oil palm estate used to belong to its namesake, Batu Kawan Bhd (BKB), before the state government gazetted the land under the Land Acquisition Act 1960 in 1990. Following a lengthy legal tussle, BKB was awarded RM15,000 per acre instead of the earlier RM8,167 per acre.

PENANG island’s land, sea and air transpor t system is well developed compared with the mainland of Seberang Perai which is almost triple the former’s size.

KUALA LUMPUR: All 636 units of the first phase of YTL Land & Development Bhd’s Midfields 2 in Sungai Besi, Selangor, were snapped up during the launch last weekend with sales of RM400 million.The first phase comprises two 21-storey blocks while the next phase consists of one 21-storey block with 156 units.“Although we had received more than 5,000 registrants, it was humbling to see our cust

KUALA LUMPUR: The World Class Sustainable Cities 2014 (WCSC 2014) will be held on Sept 25 with the theme “People make Communities, Communities make Cities”.

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Developers’ Council (MDC), which convened for the 19th time on April 25 in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, discussed the state of the housing industry and highlighted three main concerns.

KUALA LUMPUR: Bukit Kiara Properties (BKP) won two awards at the Malaysia Landscape Architecture Awards (MLAA) in Kuching on April 29. It won the “Project of the Year” for its Verve Suites Mont’Kiara development and the  “Excellence Award” in the Property Developer Category.

KUALA LUMPUR: Construction stocks, which are trading on an average of 12.8 times 12-month forward earnings, below the FBM KLCI’s 16 times, still have upside potential, said analysts, who remain “overweight” on the sector in the light of a solid pipeline of projects.