Business Times Online: 5 March 2008

LUXURY properties in the Kuala Lumpur City Centre, which cost around RM1,500 per sq ft now, could double in price once two new projects are launched this year, an industry executive said.

They are the six-star Four Seasons Hotel and Four Seasons serviced apartments and Millennium Residences.

“They are seen as the crème de la crème and will set a new benchmark pricing in the city area,” said Knight Frank Malaysia managing director Eric Ooi Yew Hock.

Four Seasons, which will be built near the Petronas Twin Towers for RM1.6 billion, is a project by Tan Sri Syed Yusof Tun Syed Nasir and the Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah.

Millennium Residences at Jalan Bukit Bintang, is being developed by City Developments (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, which is part of Singapore’s Hong Leong group of companies for some RM500 million.

“Property prices in the Klang Valley have been boosted by foreign direct investments,” Ooi said on the sidelines of the 1st Malaysian Property Summit 2008 recently.

About half of the high-rise condominiums in the city centre were bought by foreigners and the trend is expected to continue, he said.

Prices of high-end condominiums in Bangsar, Sri Hartamas, Damansara Heights and Mont’ Kiara are also reaching 700 per sq ft to RM1,000 per sq ft.

“What the suburbs will do is to move beyond RM1,000 per sq ft to touch RM1,500 per sq ft this year,” Ooi said.