RESIDENTIAL
Perak has always been touted as a town to look out for with its strategic location in between the country’s main economic hubs, Penang in the north and Kuala Lumpur in the south, and its unique old town charms set on a picturesque limestone hills & valleys. With convenient access through the North-South Highway and now with the new Electric Train Services (ETS) which stops in Ipoh and Taiping, Perak and Ipoh in particular has been garnering a lot of interest in recent years.
In 2014, US News – a multi-platform publisher of news and information, including several ranking measures – included Ipoh as one of the world’s nine most affordable places to retire. In 2015, Lonely Planet listed Ipoh as one of the top ten ‘Best in Asia’ destinations while the market saw the upcoming Movie Animation Park Studios (MAPS) in Bandar Meru Raya, Ipoh. Development growth that was traditionally concentrated mainly in Ipoh central as the capital city, now has grown outwards such as in Bandar Meru Raya which offers contemporary aspects to cater for needs of the evolving Ipoh demographics.
In line with the current lifestyle, new areas with integrated facilities are being developed. Several new townships have been established such as Bandar Meru Raya, Bandar Baru Sri Klebang and Bandar Baru Putra in Bercham, Ipoh. The area of Klebang is also gaining attention with the completion of a new AEON Klebang Mall in year 2015. Currently a 2-storey terraced in prime areas within Ipoh town would reach about RM300,000 to RM500,000 whilst some areas further from facilities such as Bandar Universiti and Sunrise Avenue would offer as low as RM150,000 to RM280,000.
Massive number of new projects are seen developing and under planning especially within Ipoh area. Some new projects being announced are Ipoh South Precinct and MH Pinnacle. In Medan Ipoh, MH Pinnacle is aiming to be the landmark of the city with its tall building including MB Inc Tower (hotel and offices) and Amanjaya Towers (residences) integrated with a mall later to be known as Pinnacle Mall.
High-end niche development is growing in Ipoh at a small scale whereby units offered would reach RM1.0 million and above. Some projects to note are The Gulf in Panorama Lapangan Perdana, Ridgewood in Bercham and Manor Born@The Deals along Tambun Road, Ipoh. An upcoming project known as Chamberlain Villas along Jalan Chamberlain offered its 4 units of 3-storey semidetached villas at RM1.29 million onwards.
In recent years, there is a growing popularity for highrise residential gated and guarded community in new developments. Some examples to note are Treetops Residency@Ipoh South Precinct, The Octagon and Springfields Residence
In catering the need for affordable homes in the state, Perak State Development Corporation (PKNP) had launched its 2-storey terraced houses in Bandar Meru Raya known as Suria@Meru. It has a total of 413 units with prices from RM263,800. Under People’s Housing Programme (PPR), there will be 99 units of landed properties to be built in Seri Iskandar and 260 apartments units in Kamunting.
The houses will be priced at RM35,000 and aimed for households with a monthly income of RM2,500 which is recently raised up to RM3,000 per month. PR1MA is also coming up with 525 units whereby the balloting had taken place at the end of last year. The houses are of 2-storey terraced type and priced from RM260,000.
Total supply of office space in Perak slightly grew by 0.9%. Some office buildings seen within the capital city are KWSP, Perak Techno Trade Centre, Kompleks Islam Darul Ridzuan and several others. Currently prime office space within Ipoh are renting out from RM2.00psf to RM3.00psf. Lower rental offered for office space ranges from RM1.50psf to RM1.80psf.
Since there are limited purpose built offices in Perak, demand for office space observed through the average occupancy rate achieved is considered encouraging at 94.9% in 3Q 2016 even though there was a slight decrease of 0.4% compared to the previous year.
Upcoming purpose built office in Perak is limited as concentration of commercial activities are more population orientated, with new launches consisting mainly of shop offices or business parks. High rise projects later to be built are MH Pinnacle (MB Inc Tower) and Ipoh SOHO (SSI Tower).
With growing popularity of integrated developments, several projects in the pipeline are introducing mixed residential and commercial projects. Among upcoming projects to note are Segi Enclave City and Qi-City.
As for shop offices, in general a standard unit of shop 2-storey shop office in Ipoh would be priced from RM1.3 million to RM1.5 million. In 2016, there was a new completion of 28 units shop offices in Vivo Square currently selling its standard unit of 37’ x 70’ at RM2.16 million.
Total supply of retail space in Perak state grew by 15.3% as at 3Q 2016 to 10.36 million sf. Commercial activities in Perak is seen growing due to increase in its population within main established areas such as Ipoh, Manjung and Taiping. Particularly in Ipoh, there is a new trend of modernization whereby high-rise residential with commercial facilities or mixed developments including residential and commercial are taking place. Main shopping arena previously would revolve around Ipoh Parade Shopping Centre, Angsana Ipoh Mall and Kinta City Shopping Mall in Ipoh.
Notable brands identified for retail malls in Perak include AEON, Tesco, Giant and Mydin. The existence of these brands in a mall would become a commercial attraction especially to a newly developed township. A few examples are new malls completed last year such as AEON Shopping Mall in Bandar Baru Klebang and AEON Big in Falim. Currently, retail malls with established tenants in prime location are renting out at RM20psf to RM34psf. Retail performance in the state will become more competitive especially within Ipoh area. Average occupancy rate of retail centres in the state has seen a drop of 3.7% in 3Q 2016 compared to 3Q 2015.
Nevertheless, some developers are still working on future retail spaces. Several projects in the making are Lost World Outlet Mall in Sunway City Ipoh, Pinnacle Mall@MH Pinnacle and South Precinct (by Team Keris Berhad) in Ipoh.
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