360 KLCC is One Month Old
My blog- 360 KLCC- has reached its first important milestone. It was launched on August 8, so today marks its one month anniversary. I hope readers have found my posts entertaining, informative, maybe sometimes funny but always useful.
As someone who attended one of his popular lectures on marketing real estate a couple of years ago, I take to heart Ikhram Merican’s great advice about starting a blog:
“ Blogs are a great way for educating your market, building authority, sharing important information, and soft marketing.
But you need to be careful.
Content that is hard sell, devoid of useful information and not focused on the reader, is a sure fire way of boring your reader away or worst still, getting her to despise you.”
I know some of my posts, particularly when I am talking about real estate statistical forecasting models and polynomial trendlines, must sound boring to the average reader. But I sincerely hope none of you despise me.
I first got to know Ikhram Merican through renting one of his AirBnB one bedroom apartments at Marc Residence. It was conveniently located right next to Kirana Residence, where I have owned a unit since 2000. I think I paid RM250+ a night. I was back in KL to attend a Kirana Management Corporation AGM as a proprietor, having left the MC committee sometime ago in 2012.
Marc’s ideal location at Jalan Pinang soon attracted scores of other AirBnB operators. It was near KLCC MTR station, within walking distance of Suria KLCC, Pavilion Shopping Centre and Bukit Bintang. Marc was also just a stone’s throw away from KL’s iconic Petronas Twin Towers.
But all good things have to come to an end. Increased competition from new AirBnB operators drove both ARR (average room revenues) and profit margins down, making his AirBnB business untenable. By the time I attended one of his lectures, Ikhram Merican had already exited the industry. In light of current market conditions, that’s very good timing.
Many of the newer KLCC condominiums, though, still have many units rented out as AirBnB homestays. And the AirBnB business at these condominiums has been hard hit by the pandemic. In 2017 to 2018, I paid RM4,300 per month to rent a two bedroom apartment on the 29F of Platinum Suites. With its Instagram worthy 50th storey infinity pool with a 280 degree views of the KL skyline, Platinum Suites was very popular with the AirBnB crowd then.
In 2021, though, you can rent a two bedroom apartment at Platinum Suites now for just RM2500 per month. Rents at upmarket KLCC condominiums have therefore fallen by as much as 40% since 2018.
In 2000, I rented out my four bedroom Kirana Residence unit for RM9,300 pm about 4 -6 weeks after getting the keys from the developer. Over the years, rentals have steadily climbed, hitting a high of RM16,000 pm. But the current rental of my 4 bedroom unit is RM8,000 per month. On an inflation adjusted basis, that’s about half of what my unit fetched in 2000! (I use the GDP deflator to adjust 2020 prices back to 2000 levels)
Perhaps you are a new reader of this blog and think a 20 year old KL condominium like Kirana must be in a run down condition with outdated facilities? You might be surprised to find Kirana Residence actually is still a luxurious 5* KLCC condominium with amenities that in my view can rival the newer 5* KLCC luxury serviced apartments.
Kirana Residence 2F pool deck
