Sunway Belfield vs Sunway Shares

 

In Sep 2020, when the world was still full of uncertainties due to Covid-19 pandemic, I decided to invest in a new property in KL.

This would be a much less ideal investment because I was not qualified to get 90% bank loan but in the end, I still decided to proceed as I like the whole package of this development so much.

It is located at KL city center, within walking distance to the upcoming Merdeka 118 precinct, close to monorail/MRT stations, freehold, built by renowned developer Sunway and selling at RM750 psf for its smallest unit. 

It appeared to be a "bargain" to me at least, compared to nearby Opus Residences & BBCC's Lucentia Residences which were well above RM1,500 psf. 

Now the project has achieved VP in Mac25 and I have collected the keys in Apr25. Do I regret my decision to invest in Sunway Belfield?

It's still too early to tell whether I made a right or wrong decision, as property investment is a long term commitment. 

At least at the moment, I think this investment is still on the right track.

In my previous post in Apr21 "Sunway, Sunreit or Sunway Belfield", I did mention that after VP, I would do a comparison between buying Sunway shares, Sunreit shares and Sunway Belfield with the cash I spent on the property.

The developer offered rebate up to approximately 9% of SPA price. So I have to pay 20+% with cash as my bank loan is at 70% + MRTA.

Because of this limitation, I could only get the smallest 797sqft unit with 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

Aside from the booking fee, I made my first cash payment in Jan21, then later in Apr21, Mac23 & Nov23 according to the construction stages. 

After that, all were paid by the bank loan. The loan interest repayment started from Jan24.

I will roughly calculate how many shares of Sunway or Sunreit I could buy with the amount of cash I paid to invest in Sunway Belfield (excluding the interest & instalment payment for the ease of calculation), up to the VP date in Mac25.

After taking into consideration the appreciation of share price and dividends received, and the value of the property up to Mac25, the best return, without a doubt, is to invest in Sunway shares.

If I buy Sunway's shares with all the cash, I would have bought at RM1.52, RM1.67, RM1.60 & RM1.96. In Mac25, its share price was around RM4.50 and now it is at RM5.50.

As for Sunreit, I would have accumulated its shares at RM1.41, RM1.52, RM1.56 & RM1.54. It was RM1.85 in Mac25 and now RM2.20.

For Sunway Belfield, I'm not sure what is the exact transaction price after VP but the listing prices in property portals were between RM750k to RM800k for the smallest unit.

In Mac25, I would have gained 182% on Sunway shares and 38% on Sunreit shares. If I were to sell my Sunway Belfield unit at RM750k, I would have gained 80% from the amount of cash I paid.

The gain on Sunway Belfield investment is calculated by: (selling price - outstanding loan - total cash paid excluding loan repayment) / total cash paid excluding loan repayment.

In this scenario, investing in Sunway shares seems to win hands down and it is also hassle-free with high liquidity.

However, this is just my own scenario. If investors can get a 90% bank loan + developer rebate to invest in Sunway Belfield, their returns will surely be much much better than mine as their cash upfront will only be a few thousands only!

In reality, I wouldn't splash this amount of cash just to buy any single company's shares but it's OK to use it to buy a property.

When I bought Sunway Belfield at RM750psf, I expected its price to be at least RM1000 psf after the VP. In a better scenario if the development of Merdeka 118 is successful, I hope it can achieve RM1250-1500 psf in the future.

I expected the Merdeka 118 tower to be mostly occupied and the 118 Mall to be ready around the time of Sunway Belfield VP but it was not the case.

Even though PNB staff has been relocated to the 118 tower gradually since 2024, its largest tenant Maybank will only move in starting Q2 of 2026. The opening of the 118 Mall has also been delayed to mid 2026. 

Anyway, the Park Hyatt Hotel has opened its door since Aug25, at least bringing some life to the surrounding.

I don't think I will sell Sunway Belfield unit at RM1000 psf and unfortunately, I don't have the luxury to make it a holiday home for my family. So I have to rent it out.

To rent it out, I have to decide to what extent I need to renovate and furnish it. In the end I decided to fully furnish it with a moderate budget.

If I were to simply put in some cheap furniture and electrical appliances, I think it can be done at cost around RM10k+ since it is a semi-furnished unit.

To renovate it into a more appealing condition, the quotations I got from a few contractors ranged from RM20k to RM50k.

At last I spent RM26k in total and managed to get it rented out in 6 weeks time.

When I invested in this property, I estimated that the rental should be at least RM3psf, or RM2,400 for a 797sqft bare unit.

The early published rental was RM3,500 for a fully renovated & furnished smallest unit which was a very good rate. 

Even though I didn't manage to secure such good rate, I still manage to generate decent positive cash flow monthly as I was one of the early birds and took only 70% loan.

Now I have to pray that tenants won't give me headaches.

There are new development in the surrounding lands of Sunway Belfield. More intense competitions for tenants are inevitable in the future.

The previously-called "Salcon land" located between Sunway Belfield and the Merdeka 118, which will block the 118 tower view of Sunway Belfield, is actually owned by Persatuan Bulan Sabit Merah Malaysia (PBSMM).

Salcon's property development arm has signed a JV agreement in year 2006 with PBSMM to develop this 5.35 acres leasehold land into a mixed development. 

However, Salcon has recently sold its property development arm to Asian Pac for RM42mil and the deal is expected to be completed by mid Feb26.

Meanwhile, EUPE who owns the land between Sunway Belfield and Kuen Cheng 1 primary school, has already got its Circadia Belfield ready for interest registration in its newly set up website.

There are as many as 9 different layouts from 457sqft to 2,100sqft and some are with dual key concept.

How will EUPE price its Circadia Belfield?

Since it is a leasehold and located slightly further away from Merdeka 118 and monorail station, by right it should be "cheaper" than Sunway Belfield.

As an owner of a property in Sunway Belfield and also EUPE's shareholder, the best scenario is that it will be priced higher than RM1000 psf for the 790 sqft unit and still able to sell well.

If this happens, then it means Sunway Belfield's price should be above RM1000psf!