According to a property report released by Knight Frank Malaysia on Jan 13, more than half of the properties in Johor Bahru today are priced at RM800,000 and above. This figure encompasses both new and resale homes.
Knight Frank added that for over the first nine months of 2024, the transaction value for condominium units in Johor Bahru had grown by 23.2 per cent and the transaction value of serviced apartments has more than doubled, with a 100.2 per cent increase as compared to the same period in 2023.
Serviced apartments in the Malaysia context refer to upscale condominium units built on land for commercial use.
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They may be owned by individual buyers for their own stay purposes or to rent out for additional income.
Lee Kun Thye, director of Knight Frank Malaysia’s Johor branch, told CNA that this hike in price and demand is driven by foreign buyers purchasing homes near the Johor Bahru city centre.
She said that the upcoming Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link has been a “crowd puller” for the property market, and apartments within a 5km radius of the upcoming station on the JB side are “selling like hotcakes”.
The 4km JB-Singapore RTS Link is expected to begin service by the end of 2026.
It aims to ease traffic congestion on the Causeway – one of the world’s busiest border crossings – by ferrying up to 10,000 passengers an hour each way on a journey that takes about five minutes.
“Singaporean buyers have returned to Johor post COVID-19 and definitely these are buyers looking ahead to the RTS improving connectivity with Singapore,” said Lee.
Johor-based analyst Samuel Tan, chief executive of boutique firm Olive Tree Property Consultants, told CNA there has been no official data from government statistics confirming that the property boom is driven by foreigners as the data does not segment the profile of buyers.
However, he said that from conversations with developers and agents, it is clear that the first wave of buyers for recent new launches in Johor Bahru city centre has been dominated by Singaporeans and Chinese nationals.
Tan cited R&F Princess Cove development, a cluster of tall condominiums which overlooks the Causeway and the Johor Strait, as a case in point. The development, built by China-based property developer R&F Group, has launched two phases comprising more than 7,000 units.
Source: CNA
