Is Johor Property a Good Investment? An Honest Look

Is Johor Property a Good Investment? An Honest Look

The short answer

Johor in 2026 is a reasonable place to put money, but only for a project that passes five checks: the timed trip to Bukit Chagar, the building's accounts, the actual tenancies, the title and the developer's completed projects, and only then the price. The RTS Link is the single biggest change to demand. Supply is still large in the segments that were overbuilt, and the RTS will not rescue a project that fails one.

For years Johor was the market I told buyers to be careful with, and I still say that about parts of it. But the case for the right property in the right part of Johor is better in 2026 than it has been in a decade, and it rests on things you can check rather than on a brochure. Here is the case for, the case against, and how I would decide.

1. Why the picture changed

The overhang has not gone away. 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 figures are published by NAPIC and are worth reading yourself. What I see is that the absorption is uneven: well-located buildings with working management are letting and selling; large towers built for an overseas buyer who never came are still waiting.

The RTS Link. Bukit Chagar to Woodlands North, immigration cleared once, officially targeted to start passenger service in February 2027. It makes a Singapore salary and a Johor home a workable combination, which is the single biggest change to demand in the state. My RTS guide covers the corridor.

The Special Economic Zone. The Johor–Singapore SEZ agreement is designed to move company operations across the border — logistics, back office, technology. Johor has also become a centre for data-centre construction, with several global operators building or announced. Data centres do not house many workers themselves, but the supply chain around them does.

2. The case for

• Entry price. Against Singapore the difference is a multiple, not a percentage. A Singapore-based buyer can own outright in JB what they could not in Woodlands.
• A real tenant base. Cross-border workers, staff of relocating companies, and Malaysians moving up. This is demand from employment, not from tourism alone.
• Landed homes in planned townships hold value on the land, which the high-rise overhang never touched.

3. The case against

• Supply is still large in the segments that were overbuilt, and a new station does not change the unit count in a 1,500-unit tower.
• Your resale buyer may be the same overseas buyer you are. Ask who bought the units in the building so far.
• Yields quoted for the corridor are not to be trusted unless they come from the tenancy agreements in the building. I do not publish yield figures for Johor for that reason.
• Serviced-apartment titles are generally outside the Housing Development Act. Check the title before you count on its protections.

4. The rules for a foreign buyer

Johor sets a minimum purchase price of RM 1,000,000 for foreigners on 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, and Real Property Gains Tax applies on sale on the non-citizen schedule. The figures are in my foreign buyer guide; confirm them for the specific project with your solicitor, because the rules have been revised before and will be again.

5. How I would decide

1. Walk from the unit to Bukit Chagar, or drive it at 7am, and time it.
2. Ask for the building's accounts: collection rate, sinking fund, and who owns the units.
3. Ask for the actual tenancies, not the projection.
4. Check the title — HDA or not — and the developer's completed projects.
5. Only then look at the price.

If a project passes those five, Johor in 2026 is a reasonable place to put money. If it fails any of them, the RTS will not rescue it.

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