Johor Property in 2026: Where I Think the Value Is

Johor Property in 2026: Where I Think the Value Is

The short answer

I think the value in Johor in 2026 is in two segments: city-centre condominiums genuinely within walking distance of Bukit Chagar, and gated landed homes in planned townships. Medical and education clusters are also worth a look. Supply is still the question, so I would be careful with large high-rise projects sold mainly to overseas buyers.

For most of the last decade Johor was the market everyone warned you about: too many high-rise units, built too fast, sold to buyers who never intended to live there. Some of that stock is still there. But the reasons to look at Johor again are real, and they are about jobs and transport rather than about brochures. This is how I read it in 2026, with the caveat that I am an agent, not a statistician — where I cite a figure it is from a source you can check, and where I cannot, I do not cite one.

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1. The two things that changed

The RTS Link. A rail line from Bukit Chagar to Woodlands North with immigration cleared once, officially targeted to start passenger service in February 2027, with the exact date to be announced jointly by the two governments. It turns living in JB while working in Singapore from a hardship into a routine. My RTS guide covers it.

The Johor–Singapore Special Economic Zone. An agreement between the two governments, signed on 7 January 2025, to make it easier for companies to operate across the border — smoother clearance, aligned rules and incentives for targeted industries. The detail is still being rolled out. What it has already done is make Johor a serious option for companies moving back-office, logistics and data-centre operations out of Singapore's cost base. Each of those brings staff who need somewhere to live.

2. Supply is still the question

Johor's unsold completed residential stock fell from 2022 to 2024 but has risen again — about 3,850 units in Q1 2026 — and Johor also holds close to 10,000 unsold serviced apartments. The official figures are published by NAPIC, the National Property Information Centre, and are worth reading directly rather than through anyone's summary — including mine. What I see on the ground is that absorption is uneven: well-located, well-managed buildings are letting and selling; large towers in the wrong place are not.

Two segments are doing the work:

• Gated landed homes in planned townships. Families, Singaporeans wanting space, and retirees under the MM2H programme. Land carries the value here.
• City-centre condominiums near the RTS. Professionals commuting to Singapore. Here the value is in the distance to Bukit Chagar, measured in metres.

3. Where I would look, and where I would be careful

Look at:

1. Transit-oriented condominiums genuinely within walking distance of Bukit Chagar, in buildings with a manageable unit count and a working management body.
2. Gated townships in Iskandar Puteri and the established suburbs, where the buyer is a family and the resale market is other families.
3. Medical and education clusters — around Gleneagles Medini and the university campuses — where demand comes from something other than the border.

Be careful with:

• Large high-rise projects sold mainly to overseas buyers, where your future resale market is the same overseas buyers.
• Anything sold on a yield figure. Ask for the actual tenancy agreements in the building, not the projection.
• Serviced-apartment titles if you want the protection of the Housing Development Act — check which title the project carries.

4. The rules you buy under

Foreign buyers in Johor face a minimum purchase price of RM 1,000,000 for every permitted residential type. Landed homes must be two storeys or more, and the state charges an application fee of RM 2,000 per title plus an approval levy of 3% of the price (minimum RM 30,000), since 1 July 2025. The margin of finance for foreigners is set by each bank. Real Property Gains Tax applies on sale, stepped by holding period. All of this is in my foreign buyer guide, and all of it should be confirmed with your solicitor for the specific project, because the rules have been revised before.

I am Shyan Yee, REN 46305, IQI Realty. Message me on WhatsApp for the Johor projects I cover, with measured distances to the RTS and the full unit lists.