Here come the trends.

(From New Straits Times (Malaysia))

Byline: Lim Lay Ying

IF you've been watching the developments taking place in the United States' IT hub of Silicon Valley in California, you'll probably have noticed how closely the technology industry resembles the property business.

For starters, both are lifestyle-driven. Fashionable lifestyle-oriented ideas are hot, but sometimes - as with Internet computing - some notions are more hype than happening. On other occasions, though, there are concepts that really do change everything.

Nothing is therefore more important than distinguishing passing fads from genuine trends that will fundamentally change the game.

In the real estate context, if there is one which will matter for a long time to come, it is the concept of being able to live, work, shop and play in one place without needing to start the car.

With high fuel cost and …