Sunday, October 12, 2008

Per Square Feet?

These past couple of years I have become familiar with properties selling at per square feet price. Before we would talk about the whole value of the property. Say a 1000sf apartment at RM300k vs RM300psf. What has happened? It looks like properties becoming some sort of commodity being sold by the kilos.

We've got Seri Bukit Ceylon going for RM900psf, Meritz at RM1300psf, Parkview RM1100psf....

For me, I largely ignore this. In my opinion, a KLCC view unit at Seri Bukit Ceylon is worth more than a unit facing the wall of Kirana at Marc Residence. So I would rather negotiate based on the complete value of the unit rather than follow trend based on psf value of the property.

A few months ago while looking at Menara Bukit Ceylon, one particularly opportunistic owner wanted to sell his 1500sf unit at RM950,000. He pointed out that Seri Bukit Ceylon is RM750psf, so at RM630psf, his unit is a bargain, never mind the fact that Menara Bukit Ceylon was transacting at RM500k to RM600k per unit at that time. I am certain that owner is still looking for a buyer today but he might well find it in a few years time provided he is patient enough to wait. But I do feel sorry for the estate agents who advertise the unit at their own cost.

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