I think dun need to be too pessimistic. Houses one can live in for retirement or rent out for passive income, unlike shares whose value can drop like Creative technology from $30 to $1 now and perhaps never recover. What we bought r freehold which may not be possible for foreigners in future and rental demand will always be there though yield may not be high, it ensures passive rental income forever potentially....more sgpn as they get retrenched or r retired will want to rent now instead of buy too which is good for boosting rental demand...
Initially, I was on cloud 9 thinking, yes... can get rental income. It's a form of investment.
Until the hard truth hit me earlier this year published by the SG govt and even Malaysian reports. Iskandar is hugely over supplied. There may not be any rental for many years. Even if one is lucky enough, the rental will likely not cover the loan amt.
As for retirement home, maybe those retiring now or soon is ok. But for others whose retirement is mamy more years later, the property will become a liability rather than an asset. And the money lost continually over the years may not be recovered.
The amt most of us paid for Iskandar homes are actually over-priced. The Malaysian developers were quick to capitalize on the fact that there is cooling measures in SG and Singaporeands will not think twice to dump their money on Iskandar homes.
By comparison, I doubt many Malaysians will be interested in those overpriced properties. So you are looking mainly at foreign buyers. That's a very small pool. I disagree with the view that because of this, your property will increase a lot in price.
So I feel don't depend too much on capital appreciation also. Finding a buyer to dump your property when you want to could be a big problem. Those who bought in the last 2-3 years may be prepared to keep the property for good or make drastic losses.
Just a personal caution. See if anyone agrees.