Land For Sale Penang

The Malaysian island of Penang has become the latest buzzword for investments in real estate by the investors from Penang mainland and Kuala Lumpur. This place is already famous for its 7 Cs, i.e. connectivity, care, cost, community, choice, cuisine and culture throughout the world. This is causing more and more people to buy land on the island and develop it as per world standards. The island is well connected to the mainland by two long bridges, one of them being South East Asia’s longest one and measures 24 kilometers in length. The cost of land on the island is higher compared to other cities on the mainland Penang.

The most sought after area for land is in and around Georgetown, which is connected to the Mainland by a bridge. All the land in the Georgetown area and around has been the best places to invest in since 2000. During these past years, the prices (per square foot) have risen from their original values quite a lot as more and more investments poured into real estate here. As land becomes costlier developers are being forced to construct high-rises if they buy land for residential purposes.

In 2007, a second bridge connecting the island with the mainland was proposed. The bridge would be connecting Batu Maung, the southern part of the island, to Batu Kawan on the mainland. The announcement immediately caused a flurry of investments for buying the land lying vacant on both sides of the proposed bridge, i.e. on the island and the mainland. This rush increased the price of land to RM50 to whopping RM160+ for each square foot of the land; whether it was being purchased for setting up commercial complexes, residential areas or to beome development land.

The original price of the vacant land long before the announcement of the second bridge varied between RM8 to RM17 which has increased to a high extent to its present value since the bridge has been opened for regular traffic between the island of Penang and the mainland. The various districts of the Seberang Prai area have benefited the most by the price rise that has gained up to 250% of its original cost.  The Simpang Ampat and Bukit Tengah areas on the mainland Penang lying between the two bridges have become the target for all the developers who are interested in developing the land here.

Some restrictions on buying of land have been imposed recently which says that all land that has been bought for less than RM400,000; there is a levy of 3% if the land is sold before 3 years of acquirng. The government can sell them as buying land for the first time. Land costing less than RM250,000 bought for residential purposes also come under the same restriction. The announcement of Georgetown as a World Heritage has also caused the price of the vacant land to go up further.

With all the above restrictions, still Penang is the favorite spot for investment in land for locals as well as the foreigners, and if the time is on your side, then you can be sure of making handsome returns too.