Sentul East -Can it be the next prime area?

YTL Land & Development Bhd recently launched condominium was a sign that property buyers are confident in the growth of Sentul. Price of The Capers were sold at around Rm550 psqft which is considered high for a place that is just a stone throw away from Public Flat (Perumahan Awam Bandar Baru Sentul). What are the attractions of Sentul that make buyers to willingly cough out hard cash to buy a unit in suburban Kuala Lumpur? The initial launching of Tamarind and Saffron were at reasonable price around Rm250sqft but recently raised to RM400sqft which is a whopping 60% gain in less than 4 years. Apart from this residential project, there are D6 & D7 commercial project which is taking place soon.

Question is the recent craze of The Capers justifiable? Below are my personal views of Sentul East.

Attractive Points

1) Owner of the area is YTL, which is famous for turning stone to gold. This company is well managed and prudent in their investment. The risk factor is much lower

2) The developer and city council is slowly cleaning up Jalan Ipoh and Sentul to change the image of Sentul as a backwater area to a livelier suburb area.

3) Up and coming hypermarket in Sentul East

4) Next to Star LRT and Komuter station and stated in the MRT masterplan that the station will be located nearby

5) 10 minutes from KLCC (if no traffic jam)

6) Future growth in the region by YTL(checkout http://www.sentul-lifestyle.com)

Minus Points

1) Near to low cost apartment, this may hamper the afford to sell it as prime area. Sentul West will be a better option.

2) The nearby condominium e.g Rivercity and Viva Residency are still about 30% lower than Sentul East

3) Considered cheaper alternative to Sentul West which have their own private park.

4) Risk of MRT project not completing is quite high since now is still in very initial stage

Conclusion

Definitely the prospect is there but paying RM400-RM600sqft is it worth it? We still need to ask ourselves how long the place needed to become a fully matured area and starting to yield high rental and going off at RM800-900sqft? My view, the area still need at least 8 to 10 years to be on par with Mont Kiara. However i believe is a good buy for a piece of land in Kuala Lumpur.