BUKIT ANTARABANGSA LANDSLIDE - DEC 6 2008

Just barely 3 days after the tragic landslide in Taman Bukit Mewah, Bukit Antarabangsa, Ampang which claimed 4 lives and destroyed 14 bungalows, my colleagues and i started receiving calls from potential buyers searching for houses near the surrounding housing estates. The callers are all lucky to escape the landslide. One of them even told me that his house was just two doors away from one of the houses which were destroyed. I really felt so sorry for them. The landslide happened early on Saturday morning at 3:30am when everyone was tugged in their beds. Most were caught by surprise. Even I, myself didn't know about it until late afternoon. I attended auction on Saturday morning and was at Great Eastern Mall, Jalan Ampang for lunch. Everything seemed normal as nobody was talking about landslide until a client called me. He was on his way to view two properties located in there and couldn't get through to the area as the police was blocking that area. My friend who was with me at that time owns a few houses in the vicinity also received some calls. Many asked me the question related to property value in that area. There are two school of thought. In this situation, the usual reaction wll be house owners in that area will want to dispose off their properties if they could. But at what price?? Desperate sellers will sell off their properties cheap. But the selling price is definitely not as cheap as RM10,000 like what one of the real estate agents commented. On the other hand, some investors will come in sensing opportunity to buy cheap properties. Hence, selling the properties at a higher price in the future. One thing that i notice about property market in KL, Malaysians tend to forget the tragedy and move backin to the area, just like Highland Tower. The bungalows surrounding Highland Tower are still being occupied. I understand some of them have no choice as they still have mortgages to serve. And some love the area and simply don't want to move. And some just didn't realise it was a tragedy area. What do you think?