The verdict
4.5/ 5Ivory Properties built these as villas, not terraces, and it shows in the numbers: only 11 units, sizes stretching from 3,820 up to a genuinely large 6,450 sq ft, with a private lift and private plunge pool built into each unit.
- Price
- from RM2.33M
- Tenure
- Freehold
- Completion
- 2012
Zac’s own rating, not an average of user reviews. It reflects one licensed agent’s assessment of this project against others he tracks in Penang.
You have shortlisted every Batu Ferringhi bungalow that came up in the last two years, and the ones you actually wanted were sold before you could see them. Nobody mentions Island Resort Semi-D Villas because there are only 11 of them, and they hardly change hands. When one does, you should know what you are looking at before the seller has moved on.
Short version. Island Resort Semi-D Villas is an 11-unit freehold enclave by Ivory Properties on the Batu Ferringhi strip. Completed 2012. Built-ups run from 3,820 sqft up to 6,450 sqft — real villa scale, not terrace scale. Subsale asking starts around RM2.33 million, about RM556 psf, working up on the larger and better-preserved units. Every villa is spec'd with its own private lift and private plunge pool — that is the point of the product.
Key takeaways:
- Eleven units and a decade-plus in the ground means this is not a market you shop — it is a market you wait for. Set an alert, not a viewing calendar.
- The private lift and private plunge pool per unit are the real differentiator. Do not conflate this with a resort condo that shares one pool between 200 doors.
- Freehold is confirmed. Land title class is not recorded in my data — get it in writing from the seller's lawyer, especially if you are buying through a loan.
- The 2012 build means renovation budget on top of the RM2.33M entry is realistic, not optional. Underlying structure is one thing; finishes and pool equipment from a 2012 handover are another.
- Batu Ferringhi is a specific lifestyle bet — beach, hotels, restaurant strip, further from George Town than Tanjung Bungah or Tanjung Tokong. If your daily life happens in Gurney, ask yourself honestly whether you will do the drive.
What Island Resort Semi-D Villas actually is
Batu Ferringhi is the north-coast beach strip — hotels, restaurants, the night market, and a small clutch of gated residential enclaves tucked off the coastal road. Ivory Properties built the broader Island Resort scheme here, and Island Resort Semi-D Villas is the low-density landed component of it. Eleven units, semi-detached format, completed 2012.
Freehold. Facilities on record are quiet and grown-up: 24-hour security, a communal pool, landscaped garden, covered car park, community hall, visitor parking, management office. On top of that, each unit has its own private lift and its own private plunge pool. That last detail is the reason you look here rather than at a resort condo.
The 10 Island Resort condo tower sits nearby — same developer, same broader enclave, different product. Do not let anyone show you a condo unit and call it a villa on the way over.
Layouts and prices — a wide spread of villa footprints
The villas do not repeat a single layout. Sizes stretch across a real range, and asking follows size, condition, and how much the current owner did to the unit.
| Villa tier | Built-up (sqft) | Asking from | Approx psf | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smaller villa | around 3,820 | around RM2.33M | around RM556 | The record entry unit — bigger than a Bukit Jambul semi-D by a comfortable margin |
| Larger villa | up to 6,450 | up to around RM4.6M | around RM711 | Bungalow-scale built-up, private lift and plunge pool per unit already included |
The 3,820 sqft floor is a subsale asking benchmark, not a fixed sticker — actual quotes move with unit and with what the owner did to the finishes over the last decade. And the psf range comes from asking data over built-up, not a developer-published rate. Confirm the current asking on the specific villa before you plan around these numbers.
Who this actually fits — and who should walk
Island Resort Semi-D Villas works for you if:
- You want a freehold semi-D villa on the Batu Ferringhi coastal strip, with your own lift and your own plunge pool, and you accept that the pool of buyers for that product is small and slow.
- You already live your weekends and your holidays on the north-coast beach — you eat at the restaurant strip, you use the hotel gyms, you know the traffic pattern between Ferringhi and Tanjung Bungah on a Saturday.
- You are a foreign buyer or an MM2H holder who has decided on Batu Ferringhi and wants freehold at genuinely low density. Eleven units is as low as it goes on this coast.
- You have renovation budget on top of the sticker price. 2012 finishes and 2012 pool equipment do not stay perfect on their own.
Walk if:
- You need proximity to George Town or Gurney every day. Batu Ferringhi is not that; the coastal road is the coastal road, and traffic is traffic.
- You want to sell within three to five years. Eleven units means resale takes patience, and the buyer profile is specific. This is a long-hold home.
- You want a new-build handover. This is 2012 subsale, so you inherit whatever the last owner did or did not maintain.
The foreign-buyer angle — cleared, but stack the cost
At RM2.33 million entry, Island Resort Villas clears Penang Island's RM1 million foreign minimum comfortably. Qualification is not the question at this tier. Total cash-in is.
Model these against the actual quote on the specific villa:
- 3% Penang state levy on the full purchase price. On a RM2.33M entry that is RM69,900 on top of the sticker.
- 8% flat stamp duty on the SPA and MOT for foreign buyers. The tiered 1 to 4 percent scale is the citizen rate — do not model foreign purchases against it.
- State consent (COSA) — allow 3 to 4 months, handled by your lawyer. Bake it into the payment schedule and any bridging cost.
- Foreign loan-to-value — expect around 70% at most banks. Do not plan on 80% or 90%.
- RPGT on exit — 30% for years 1 to 5, then 10% from year 6 onwards. Foreigners never reach 0%.
Stack that on RM2.33M and you are already meaningfully north of RM2.6M before renovation. Plan against that number, not the sticker.
The catch — three things worth checking before you offer
Every honest review names the trade-off.
Eleven units is a thin resale market. That is exactly why the address holds value — scarcity works both ways. But when your day to exit arrives, you may wait longer for a buyer than you would in a 200-unit scheme. Do not treat this as a liquid instrument. Treat it as a long-hold home.
The 2012 build shows in the details, not the bones. Structural quality is a different question from finish quality. Fourteen years of coastal air is honest work on aluminium, sliding tracks, pool tiling, plunge-pool filtration, and lift equipment. Walk the specific unit with someone who knows what a coastal 2012 build looks like after this long. Ask for maintenance records on the private lift and the private plunge pool.
The land title class is not recorded in my project data. Residential vs commercial title changes your holding cost, your loan structure, and your foreign-buyer treatment. Do not accept "it is landed at Batu Ferringhi, of course it is residential" as an answer. Ask the seller's lawyer for the master title copy before you offer.
Comparable alternatives on this shortlist
If Island Resort Villas is on your Batu Ferringhi shortlist, these are the honest siblings.
- 10 Island Resort — same developer, same broader gated enclave, but the condo tower rather than the villa row. Different product entirely. From about RM535,000 at condo scale, not villa scale.
- Jesselton Villas at Batu Gantong — freehold, residential, from about RM3.6M and around RM600 psf. Inland Batu Gantong rather than Batu Ferringhi beach — a different address logic at a higher entry, but bigger buyer pool.
- Amaris at Seri Tanjung Pinang — 29-unit E&O freehold landed enclave in Tanjung Tokong, from about RM4M. If you are torn between beach-strip privacy at Batu Ferringhi and STP-township convenience at Tanjung Tokong, this is the head-to-head.
You should see at least two of these before you decide. One quote in isolation gives you no floor.
Sources
- Penang Property Talk — Island Resort Semi-Detached Villas launch coverage: https://www.penangpropertytalk.com/2011/02/island-resort-semi-detached-villas/
- StarProperty — Island Resort insight page: https://www.starproperty.my/insight/2137/island-resort
- EdgeProp — Island Resort at Batu Ferringhi residential listings: https://www.edgeprop.my/buy/penang/batu-ferringhi/island-resort/all-residential/268412
Related on this site
- Island Resort Semi-D Villas subsale listing
- Batu Ferringhi area guide
- Foreign buyer guide to Penang property
- Jesselton Villas review 2026 — the Batu Gantong sibling in the same bungalow-tier shortlist
- 10 Island Resort subsale — the condo product in the same enclave
Disclaimer: This review is for information only and is not tax, legal or investment advice. Prices, unit counts, land-title class and regulatory figures change — confirm current numbers with your appointed lawyer and with a licensed agent before you offer. Zac Ong is a licensed real estate negotiator (REN 64593) with PropNex Penang.