JB luxury condominium rental market is said by many to be an untested market that barely exists at the moment, most of current off-plan projects will start to TOP from 2015 competing within self and each other in the tenant pool. These thoughts would great discourage anybody thinking of investing in a piece of residential property in the Iskandar property market. Unless the said property is for the buyer's own stay and enjoyment or the goal is for capital appreciation.
Johor property market will continue to boom due to the Singapore-Johor (HK-Shen Zhen) link. Iskandar has the resources (Land space, current and future investments, labor) to support the growth cap that Singapore is experiencing and it is a natural process for Singapore money to pour over. The property laws in Singapore currently no longer foreigner friendly and many Asian investors are diverting their investments to Johor, this is quite evident in the recent well received sales of Johor properties. Buyers are channelling in from Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan etc.
The potential tenants for luxury properties will mainly consist of expats. Will there will be enough expats 5 years down the road to rent at a premium? We can do a quick comparison with rentals in Woodlands (American International School) and see that the prices are no longer considered premium. A quick search for rental units on Property Guru for price range between S$8000 to S$15000 in woodlands turns up 133 listings. It will cost about estimated S$4000 to S$6000 to rent a unit at The Astaka for example.
Next we have the high speed rail that is projected to be operational in 2020, the impact of this will be immense and will cause a major population shift. As evident in the study below of past HSR in Japan and Europe. With population shift there will be influx of business and job creation all together lead to further capital appreciation and improved rental market.
JB-SG RTS will be completed in 2018. Historically businesses has moved with the CIQ, when CIQ moved in-land, businesses shifted in-land and previously bustling areas slowed down. Upon the completion of the RTS there will be business growth around the immediate vicinity, the mobility the RTS will enable and attract more expats and Singaporeans to live in Johor and work in Singapore. RTS will also greatly lift Johor property prices.
HSR, RTS will cause a shift in population, next we need the infrastructure to support this in order for this to be sustainable. Current cumulative investment in Iskandar is RM106.3 billion, with amount surpassing year after year.
Ascendas is building a S$1.5 billion tech park and policies are encouraging take up by Singapore firms. The fully-landscaped park will offer quality infrastructure to support a range of industries such as electronics, pharmaceutical & medical devices, food processing, precision engineering, fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs), logistics & warehousing and general engineering services as well as land plots for customized facilities.
SiLC (Southern Industrial Logistic Cluster) is a 1307 acre land industrial park in Nusajaya that houses high tech industries currently already in operation. In SiLC 20% are Singapore firms and 70% are Malaysian firms. Some SME in Singapore are already expanding or moving into Iskandar, such as Old Chang Kee etc. Since 2006, singapore firms has over 300 factories in Johor and the numbers are growing. Within the next 5 to 8 years, Iskandar is projected to create over 500,000 jobs.
Land shortage, property prices, living cost (63% lesser compared to Singapore), labor cost differences is driving this HK - Shenzhen model of Singapore - Johor. CapitaLand Group also announced 2 prominent projects in in February 2013. One is a joint venture of a S$3.2 billion waterfront township on the island of Danga Bay between Temasek Holdings and Malaysia’s Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWSB). The Ascott Limited, having been given the green light to manage Somerset Medini Iskandar is another project. Recently in the news Afiniti Medini also sold out within hours of launch.
Iskandar has reached a critical mass through completion of major infrastructure and real estate projects in 2012 and Iskandar is no longer a new term.
Given a 5 year timeline, with population shift, industry/business growth, The Astaka will be one of the top choices of residential to rent given proximity/connectivity to Singapore and closeness to nearby amenities. Iskandar Water Front Holding is the "UEM land" of Johor City and will further transform Johor CBD and coastline.
Developers who built Mid-Vally has already confirmed another Megamall just 15 minutes drive up Jalan Tebrau name Southkey. Just beside current JB central shopping mall another mall is due for completion. Mahabuilders have bought the abandoned Pacific Mall just right across the road from The Astaka in 2012 to refurbish. There are many more projects and investments to list.
Just a quick search, some current comparable Johor rental listing (RM7,000~RM9,000), please note none of these condominiums below has the scale,quality, location and unique features of many off plan condominiums on the market.
Wadihaha condominium/ Listed 1st June/ RM9,000/ 3,450sqft
Straits View/ Listed 1st June/ RM9,000/ 3,000sqft
Molek Pine/ Listed 1st June/ RM7,000/ 2,382sqft
Mewah View/ Listed 30th may/ RM 7,000/ 2,573sqft
Indah Samudra/ Listed 29th May/ RM7,500/ 2,450sqft
Some links on Johor expat trends on community:
With those facts in mind, the JB luxury residential rental market may not look so bleak anymore. However this is open ended and up to the discretion of individual judgement through own evaluation and assessment.
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