Can Condominiums Flourish in Butteworth?

Recently there are quite a lot of so-called "luxury condominiums" being built in Butterworth area. Is there really a demand for them? 

Previously there are already lots of  residential apartment in Butterworth area which are only slightly better than low cost apartment. Among the first few "higher quality" ones include Cassia Resort Condo and Affina Bay near Raja Uda. Then a few years back came PJD's Harbour Place, which kick starts the "luxury condo" boom in this area. Currently, Tambun Indah Group take over and has already launched 5 condo projects in this area within 2 years time.

    Harbour Place

Mainland Penang people prefer to stay in landed property because it is relatively cheap compared to penang island. Ten years back if you buy an apartment here, people may question you and tell you that apartment has no land and thus no value. 

However, new double storey terrace here cost well above RM400,000 now. Young working people find it harder and harder to buy a landed property, and they don't want to stay in lower-cost apartment without facilities and proper security. Is this the reason why there are so many condos being launched here recently?

     Pinang & Palma Laguna

Similar condos in Penang island will easily cost more than RM350psf at the moment. For example, D'piazza, The Spring, Summer Place are between RM350-450psf, and The Brezza, Bayswater, Platino, Putra Place are about RM450-550psf. New condos at Southbay, Setia Pearl Island and Seri Tanjung Pinang cost even more than that. Even the old high density E-park & N-park are put on sales at average RM350psf.

What should be the proper condo price in Butterworth area? Some say it should be roughly 50% of island's price. A few years back, "better" apartments in Butterworth are sold at RM130-150psf. Now the average price has come to RM200psf, which is about 50% of island's equivalent.

Penang island and mainland is better connected now. Bayan Lepas FIZ is kind of saturated. Most new factories will be built at Penang Science Park and the new Batu Kawan Industrial area at mainland in the future. 

     Tanjung Heights

More people who work in island start to look for landed property in the mainland. Some of them may prefer condos at Butterworth area as the price and rental is a lot cheaper than the island. Will the condo demand in the island spill over to Butterworth in the future?

There are also some people who work in Kulim High Tech park prefer to stay in Butterworth rather than Kulim. Both places are connected by the Butterworth-Kulim Expressway (20 min drive) and the toll rate is RM3.20 per trip. Besides, travelling between Butterworth and Batu Kawan is also easy (15-20 min drive) via the North-South Highway which cost RM1.10 per trip.

Here is a list of "more luxury" or "better" condos in Butterworth, some of them are still under construction.

Condo/Apartment	Location	Total unit	Total Floor	From (sf)
Kelisa Heights	Seberang Jaya	140	11	1200
Kelisa Residence	Seberang Jaya	142	10	1097
Carissa Park	Bagan Lallang	144	10	1210
Centro View	Bagan Lallang		10	1070
Tanjung Heights	Raja Uda	148	13	1313
Cassia Resort	Raja Uda	273	13/17	1130
Capri Park	Kg Jawa	148	15	1334
Pinang Laguna	Perai	350	27	935
Palma Laguna	Perai	382	38	1100
Dahlia Park	Kg Benggali	134	18	1395
Telaga Emas	Kg Benggali	144	11	1330
Vista Bay	Kg Benggali		15	1256
Affina Bay	Kg Paya		12
Park View	Harbour Place		20
Sea View	Harbour Place	354	19/23	670
Ocean View	Harbour Place	386	27	938
Wellesley Residences	Harbour Place	401	27/30	650