S'poreans buying Johor condo properties as JB-S'pore RTS Link shows good progress
Strong demand.
Seri Mazliana
Johor is expected to launch 60,000 new high-rise homes in 2024.
An estimated 26,000 service apartments and 31,000 apartments have already been planned by various property developers in the third quarter of 2023, reported New Straits Times.
Increase in projects due to RTS Link
The surge in new condominium and apartment developments in Johor follows the major progress in the construction of the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link.The railway link connecting two stations, Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru and Woodlands in Singapore, was approximately 65 per cent complete as at Dec. 31, 2023.
Some of the new homes include One49 adjacent to Tebrau Highway, Residensi Laman Hijau at the former Royal Johor Golf and Country Club, Watermark Residences at Lido Waterfront Boulevard.
Changing property trends
The supply of private condominium housing options has upended a long-term trend where sale of landed properties were the mainstay.This was revealed by Samuel Tan, executive director of Malaysian property consultancy KGV International, who said landed properties used to be the main property type in Johor Bahru, accounting for about two-thirds of the total existing supply, as reported by NST.
But the trend has changed in the past 10 years, he added.
And if latest data is anything to go by, Singaporeans have contributed to the property demand in JB.
Malay Mail, quoting The Straits Times, reported that Singaporeans made up 40 per cent of buyers for the Princess Cove condominium in Johor Bahru, after the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) rates increased in April 2023.
Princess Cove is less than a 10-minute walk from the Johor Baru checkpoint.
Another major development project in Johor Baru that is seeing significant buyer interest is known as MBW City with 450 units for sale.
It has been touted as being a seven-minute drive from the RTS station.
According to ST, sales of property in Johor, especially between April and September 2023, was five times more than in the same period in 2022.
Strong interest due to economic developments
Tan also said Johor Bahru is expecting an influx of Singaporeans due to the lower cost of living and more leisurely lifestyle.Rising interest in Johor properties have also been attributed to the proposed Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the shaping of Forest City into a Special Financial Zone (SFZ), and the potential revival of the KL-Singapore High Speed Rail.
