Why is real estate in Johor Bahru, Malaysia worth investing in?

Johor Bahru is the core city of Iskandar Malaysia, a key development zone in Malaysia. According to statistics in 2015, the population of Johor State reached 3.65 million, accounting for one-tenth of the entire population of Malaysia. As the capital of Johor State, Johor Bahru has a population of more than 800,000. It is only separated from Singapore by a bridge and relies on the Iskandar Special Economic Zone. Development and the impact of China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative have been likened to Malaysia’s “Shenzhen”.

It is also the special economic zone. Since the launch of Iskandar Special Zone in 2006, this year has passed, and the special zone has attracted more than 200 billion ringgit (approximately 320 billion yuan) in foreign investment. Last year alone, major companies such as Microsoft, Japan Food Co, and Healthcare City announced plans to invest billions of dollars here. The influx of large multinational companies has led to an increase in immigration.

Johor Bahru’s main economic growth relies on the service industry and manufacturing industry, not the real estate industry. The Singapore government began to encourage Singaporean factories to relocate to Johor in 2013. Since then, the manufacturing industry has grown slowly but significantly by billions of ringgit annually. On the other hand, Johor Bahru's service industry is growing at an average annual rate of RM20 billion, as new theme parks, shopping malls and office buildings are piled up here every year.

Adjacent to Singapore, housing prices in Johor Bahru are less than half that of Singapore. Moreover, freehold property rights and house area are calculated based on usable area, which are all important factors to attract investors. On the other hand, compared with the prices in Singapore, prices in Malaysia are low. In order to reduce the pressure of life, many middle-aged Singaporeans sell their HDB flats and come to Johor Bahru, the nearest city to Singapore, for retirement.

What’s more, after the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail is opened, it will only take less than half an hour from Singapore to Johor Bahru, which will attract a considerable number of Singaporean residents to flock to Malaysia, where the price level is relatively low, and start the "Twin Cities" Model - Working in Singapore, living in Kuala Lumpur.