Strategic development key to Johor’s property demand

• Knight Frank Malaysia group managing director Keith Ooi said the steady growth of property demand in the first half of the year (1H2024), including commercial, development, residential and industrial land, was driven by various initiatives implemented by the state.

ISKANDAR PUTERI (Sept 26): Johor is expected to see sustained property demand from foreign buyers, especially Singaporeans, driven by key developments and growing investor interest, according to Knight Frank Malaysia.

Group managing director Keith Ooi said the steady growth of property demand in the first half of the year (1H2024), including commercial, development, residential and industrial land, was driven by various initiatives implemented by the state.

These include the development of the Johor Bahru–Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link, the designation of Forest City as a Special Financial Zone (SFZ) and the proposed establlishment of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ).

Ooi noted that Johor Bahru remains the primary focus in terms of demand and supply of properties, followed by Kluang and Batu Pahat.

“Distribution of existing supply of properties by district revealed that Johor Bahru saw a compound annual growth rate of 4.7% in 1H2024.

“Johor Bahru is still stands as a primary focus by the majority of the developers with a total transaction value of RM2.96 billion,” he said.

He added that industrial land accounted for the 61% of transactions, followed by commercial land (25%) and residential land (14%).

For high-rise residential transactions, serviced apartments accounted for RM1.58 billion (63.3%),  followed by condominiums at RM629.21 million (36.5%), and SOHO (small office home office) units at RM2.98 million (0.2%).

During his presentation at the “Invest Malaysia Iskandar 2024” here today, Ooi highlighted that the number of overhang and unsold units in Johor Bahru has been decreasing, noting that over 50% of the properties were priced at RM800,000 and above.

He added that the unsold units in 1H2024 comprised of 1,632 condominium units, 12,599 apartment units and 345 SOHO units; a reduction compared to 1H2023 where the number of unsold units stood at 2,255 for condominiums, 13,287 for service apartments and 329 SOHO.

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