GEORGETOWN

Georgetown is the capital of Penang Island, and is renowned for being listed as a World Heritage Site in the year 2008. This bustling little town was founded in 1786 by Francis Light, a British trader. While it was known to be a small little fishing village and a port town in the past, Georgetown is now a busy city that has major economic importance in the state.

Georgetown is first and foremost famous for its history. The shop houses here date back to the 1900s, and the majority of them are still very well maintained. These very same shop houses are now a tourist attraction, where many locals run their businesses from.

These historical shop houses are however also a constant sore point with the locals, as more foreigners; especially Singaporeans; come in to obtain these shop houses as an investment and drive the prices of historical properties and its rentals up abnormally - so much so that the Penang government is talking about imposing a rent control act.

The main economy factor of Georgetown is not just its history but also its food. This little town has more good food into its borders than many other states have in their entire region. There are many variants of ‘char kway teow’ here with various types of seafood, and there is also the ‘kwei chap’ that can only be found here.

Nasi Kandar is also an extremely popular choice of food here, with one of their most famous ones being the ‘Line Clear’ shop. There is so much good food here, that many a Malaysian has made a weekend trip down to Georgetown just for a food binging session.

With Georgetown being a state that is popular for being a tourist attraction, one would expect prices of property here to be on the rise. But due to the strict government measures that control foreign buyers from obtaining too many properties here; and due to stringent affordable homes schemes; property prices are still stable even in the main city of Georgetown.

Being the capital of Penang, Georgetown enjoys some of the best in facilities and road infrastructures. The Penang Bridge is only 20 minutes away in clear traffic, and the Penang International Airport is less than half an hour away.