Author: Jason Lim

中文 · Bahasa Melayu

This is for anyone in Johor Bahru, or commuting from Singapore, who is deciding where to buy or rent with the RTS Link in mind. The short answer as of 17 October 2026: passenger service is now expected in February 2027, not 1 January, the exact day will only be named after safety approvals, and fares have still not been announced.

For the basics (the 4 km Bukit Chagar to Woodlands North route and the co-located CIQ), see my RTS Link property guide.

The opening date: February 2027, subject to approvals

On 2 October 2026, Malaysia’s Transport Ministry and Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) issued a joint statement after the operator, RTS Operations Pte Ltd (RTSO), told them of a revised timeline. Service is now expected to start in February 2027. That depends on RTSO getting independent safety certification and final regulatory approval.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke said on 8 October that this is a buffer rather than a delay. Station and CIQ works are complete, testing runs to 31 December, and then an independent safety assessor and the regulators (APAD in Malaysia, LTA in Singapore) must sign off. The exact date will be announced only after all approvals. Mothership reported the aim is to start before Hari Raya 2027.

Fares and ticketing: still not announced

As of mid-October 2026, there is no official fare. In August, Loke said the fare and payment method were in the final stage of discussion at RTSO and would be announced jointly by both governments. Figures you may see online, such as RM15 to RM22 a trip, are estimates, not approved fares.

On hours, Mothership reported first and last trains at 6am and 12am from both ends, with trains as often as every 3.6 minutes at peak. Treat that as reported, not a published timetable. The co-located CIQ means you clear both countries’ immigration at the station you depart from, but how long queues will be at peak is not yet known.

Getting to Bukit Chagar: buses, bridges, parking and the ART

Station access matters for property as much as the train. The latest I could verify:

• Parking. In March 2026, Bernama reported plans for a 1,500-bay park-and-ride at Bukit Chagar, plus 700 bays reserved for RTS users in a neighbouring development.
• Bridge to KTMB. In August 2026 the government approved a RM60 million bridge linking Bukit Chagar directly to the KTMB station at JB Sentral. Loke said it would take about 12 months to build, so it will not be ready on opening day. My JB Sentral and Bukit Chagar area guide covers the homes around it.
• Buses. At least 200 new buses are planned under the Stage Bus Service Transformation 2.0 programme for routes from JB housing areas to Bukit Chagar, timed for the RTS opening, plus an RTS shuttle and dedicated bus lanes (Malay Mail, July 2026).
• E-ART. The Elevated Autonomous Rapid Transit on the Skudai, Tebrau and Iskandar Puteri corridors was approved by Cabinet in June 2026, but funding terms were still being negotiated in July. Cost reports differ: about RM10 billion (Malay Mail) and about RM7 billion (a bank research note, via The Star). Malay Mail said completion is expected within four years of the letter of acceptance, so it will not be running when the RTS opens.

Traffic and the Causeway

The RTS is designed for up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction, and about 40,000 riders a day were expected at opening. That is a fraction of the more than 300,000 people Mothership says cross at Woodlands each day, so do not expect the Causeway queues to disappear. Bernama also warned that the transit-oriented development around Bukit Chagar may still be under construction when trains start, so expect road changes near the station for a while.

What has happened to prices and rents near Bukit Chagar

I could not find a dated, published survey of residential rents around Bukit Chagar for 2026, so I will not quote one. What the reports do show:

• New launch pricing. StarProperty reported in January 2026 that serviced apartment launches at the Bukit Chagar–CIQ node had reached about RM1,500 psf.
• Supply. A bank research note, reported in July 2026, counted 108,863 serviced apartments in Johor Bahru as of 1Q2026, with 41,832 more incoming up to 2030 and 18,712 planned to 2031. CBRE WTW expects Iskandar Malaysia’s high-rise completions to peak at 32,783 units in 2029, and warned that many projects finishing just after the RTS could pressure take-up in 2027 to 2029.
• Commercial rents. The Straits Times reported in August 2026 that downtown JB shoplots were asking RM8,000 to RM25,000 a month, and one Taman Melodies café’s rent rose from RM7,000 in 2023 to RM18,000 in 2026.

Consultants quoted by EdgeProp in September 2026 agree with what I tell clients: proximity alone is not enough. Access, build quality, management and competing supply decide rents. For a look at the city centre beyond the station, see my JB city centre guide.

What is still unknown

• The exact opening day in February 2027.
• The fare, how you pay, and whether there will be concession or monthly passes.
• Official operating hours and real peak-hour CIQ waiting times.
• When the KTMB bridge, the new bus routes and the park-and-ride will all be running.
• How rents behave as the new supply completes.

What I would do now

If you are buying to live in and commute, wait for the fare and the first few weeks of real queues before paying extra for being a short walk from the station. If you are buying to rent out, compare against completed units with a real rental record; my subsale condo listings in Johor Bahru are a fair place to start. Either way, walk the route to the station yourself.

Questions about your situation?

Tell me where you work and where you are looking, and I will help you weigh the RTS factor honestly.

Sources: The Star, “JB-Singapore RTS Link to commence operations in February 2027”, October 2026; Bernama, “RTS Link Passenger Service Expected To Begin in February 2027”, October 2026; Malay Mail, “Anthony Loke: RTS Link not delayed, buffer time needed for safety approvals”, October 2026; Mothership, “16 years & slight delay later, Johor Bahru-S’pore RTS Link coming to pass. Finally.”, October 2026; The Star, “No more RTS Link delays, please”, October 2026; Malay Mail, “Malaysia and Singapore to announce RTS Link fare soon, Loke says talks moving smoothly”, August 2026; The Star, “RTS Link entering testing phase ahead of January launch, says Loke”, August 2026; Malay Mail, “Transport Ministry greenlights RM60m bridge, giving Komuter passengers direct access to RTS station”, August 2026; Bernama, “RTS Link Planned As Part Of Integrated Johor Bahru-Singapore Mobility Network”, March 2026; Malay Mail, “Loke: Putrajaya to help fund Johor’s RM10b E-ART as private funding alone ‘not viable’”, July 2026; The Star, “Johor high-rise segment faces oversupply risks”, July 2026; StarProperty, “Will Johor’s high-rise boom sustain its momentum?”, January 2026; EdgeProp, “RTS Link poised to reshape JB’s property outlook as connectivity gains traction”, September 2026; The Straits Times (via Asia News Network), “From old bungalows to chic cafes: How upcoming rail link is reshaping this Malaysian city’s neighbourhoods”, August 2026; Land Transport Authority, “Johor Bahru – Singapore Rapid Transit System Link”, May 2025

Jason Lim, REN 84424, IQI Realty Sdn. Bhd. E (1) 1584/6. General information checked on 17 October 2026, not legal, tax or financial advice.

中文 · Bahasa Melayu

This is for anyone deciding whether to buy, sell or hold a home in Johor Bahru in the coming year, whether you are Malaysian, a landlord or a Singaporean looking across the Causeway. The one-line answer: Johor is busy but not overheated. Sales held steady in 2025 and prices rose faster than the national average, yet Johor now has more unsold completed homes than any other state, with unsold serviced apartments on top. Here is what the latest figures say.

The headline numbers

Johor is Malaysia’s second-largest residential market after Selangor, and 2025 volume was flat rather than falling. 2026 has started softer, but so has the country: NAPIC recorded 187,320 property transactions worth RM105.12 billion nationally in 1H2026, against 196,232 worth RM107.68 billion a year earlier.

Most Johor buyers are not buying luxury. In 1Q2026 about 63% of residential deals were at RM500,000 or below, and terraced houses made up more than half, according to IQI data quoted by NST.

Video: 61,000 new condos coming to JB: is it an oversupply trap? (Jason Lim, Smart Asset with Jason on YouTube).

The overhang: where the risk sits

Overhang means homes completed but still unsold. Johor had 4,222 such units at the end of 1H2026, ahead of Selangor (4,185) and Perak (4,075), per MBSB Research figures in The Star. SuperHomes puts their value at about RM3.72 billion. Reports differ for end-2025: 3,705 units in the NAPIC figure SuperHomes cites, 3,293 in a Henry Butcher presentation in January 2026.

Those totals exclude serviced apartments, which NAPIC counts separately and which are JB’s bigger problem: IQI’s reading of the 1Q2026 data shows 9,972 unsold in Johor.

More is coming. Olive Tree Property Consultants counted 70,177 high-rise units and 38,448 landed homes in Johor’s future supply at 4Q2025 (The Edge). A condo buyer in JB city, Danga Bay or Iskandar Puteri is competing with a lot of new stock; see my list of Johor Bahru homes under construction.

Prices and rents

Olive Tree’s 4Q2025 monitor recorded double-storey terraced resale prices up roughly 2.5% to 6.7%, with a 1,400 sq ft house in Taman Mount Austin at RM800,000 to RM820,000 and in Taman Bukit Indah at RM720,000 to RM750,000. Serviced apartments rose less. Rents were mostly stable, with selective increases.

Near the RTS station, Samuel Tan of Olive Tree told The Edge (January 2026) that resale serviced apartments within 1 km of the terminal, once RM600,000 to RM800,000, were asking RM1.0 million to RM1.3 million. That is asking, not proven value. Nawawi Tie Leung put city-centre high-rise deals at RM850 to RM925 psf in 2024 to 2025, against RM550 to RM615 psf elsewhere.

What is driving demand

• RTS Link. Testing began in August 2026. On 8 October 2026 Transport Minister Anthony Loke said service will start in February 2027, the exact day to follow once APAD and Singapore’s LTA approve (Bernama). Fares had not been announced. My basics are in RTS Link and JB property.
• Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone. Signed on 7 January 2025, covering over 3,500 sq km and nine flagship zones. Incentives include 5% corporate tax for up to 15 years for qualifying investment and 15% income tax for up to 10 years for eligible knowledge workers (Reed Smith). More in my JS-SEZ guide.
• Data centres and industry. JLL put Johor’s operational data centre capacity at 850 MW in April 2026, with 1,800 MW under construction in Nusajaya, Sedenak and Kulai; Knight Frank’s 2026 atlas says 1,110 MW live, so reports differ. Industrial land averaged RM86 psf in 2025, up 8.4% (JLL). Data centres bring construction and technical jobs but employ few people once built.
• Singapore. Proximity remains the main draw for cross-border workers and buyers.

Risks I would not ignore

• Condo supply in JB city. High overhang plus a large pipeline means resale and rental competition for high-rise units, especially the larger serviced apartments.
• Forest City. Despite its Special Financial Zone status it remains niche; even Samuel Tan, arguing for its potential in The Edge (February 2026), said the SFZ needs refining. See my Forest City guide before buying there.
• Interest rates. Bank Negara cut the OPR to 2.75% in July 2025 and held it there on 3 September 2026 (RinggitPlus). That helps, but rates can move both ways; test your instalment at a higher rate.
• RTS hype. A “near RTS” label does not fill a unit. Check walking distance, rents of completed units nearby and what is still coming.

Who the market favours

Who should wait: anyone stretching to buy a condo on RTS or SEZ headlines alone, or who cannot hold through a few quiet years. Waiting for the RTS opening and fares costs little.

What I would do in 2026

• If I needed a home to live in, I would buy landed in a mature area I know, within my budget, and stop trying to time the market.
• If I were investing, I would look at completed subsale units where I can see real rents and real transaction prices, not projections.
• For any high-rise, I would count how many similar units are unsold or coming within 2 km before making an offer.
• I would get a loan approval first, then use the softer 2026 market to negotiate rather than rush.

If you want to see what is on the market now, start with my subsale houses in Johor Bahru page.

Questions about your situation?

Tell me your budget, the area and whether you will live in it or rent it out, and I will tell you what the numbers say for that part of JB.

Sources: PropPlace (citing NAPIC Property Market Report 2025), “Malaysia Residential Property Market 2025”, July 2026; SuperHomes (citing NAPIC reports), “Johor Property Market 2026: Prices, Overhang & RTS Link”, October 2026; New Straits Times, “State election unlikely to derail Johor home sales”, June 2026; Ministry of Finance, “Speech at the launch of the Property Market Report 1H2026”, September 2026; The Star, “Challenges expected for property market”, October 2026; IQI, “NAPIC Q1 2026: What Malaysia’s Property Data Means for Buyers”, July 2026; EdgeProp Singapore, “Only Johor saw upticks while other states’ residential markets stayed cautious: Henry Butcher”, January 2026; The Edge Malaysia, “Olive Tree Property Consultants Johor Bahru Housing Property Monitor (4Q2025): Rise in prices led by serviced apartments”, April 2026; The Edge Malaysia, “BEST PROPERTY DEALS: Are property prices in Penang and Johor catching up with Kuala Lumpur’s?”, January 2026; Bernama, “RTS Link Operational Start Date Feb 2027 Joint Decision By Malaysia, Singapore – Loke”, October 2026; paultan.org, “RTS Link has entered its testing phase – Loke”, August 2026; Reed Smith, “Singapore and Malaysia officially launch the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone”, April 2025; New Straits Times, “Johor tops Malaysia’s a leading data centre hub”, April 2026; New Straits Times, “Johor data centre boom hits capacity wall”, August 2026; EdgeProp, “Johor emerges as Malaysia’s second-largest residential market—JLL Malaysia”, January 2026; RinggitPlus, “BNM Holds OPR At 2.75% As Growth Forecast Rises To Around 5%”, September 2026; The Edge Malaysia, “My Say: Forest City reimagined”, February 2026

Jason Lim, REN 84424, IQI Realty Sdn. Bhd. E (1) 1584/6. General information checked on 17 October 2026, not legal, tax or financial advice.

This is the first of my monthly notes for Singaporeans who own, or are thinking of buying, property in Johor Bahru. The one-line version for October 2026: the RTS Link is now expected to open in February 2027, the ringgit is around RM3.19 to the Singapore dollar, and Budget 2027 brought no new rules aimed at foreign buyers.

1. RTS Link: now February 2027

On 2 October 2026, Malaysia’s Transport Ministry and Singapore’s Land Transport Authority said in a joint statement that passenger service is expected to start in February 2027, rather than the January date previously reported. The start still depends on the operator, RTS Operations Pte Ltd, getting independent safety certification and final approval from both governments.

On 8 October, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the line was not delayed as such: both sides chose February to leave a buffer for safety checks. He said physical works on the station and CIQ complex are finished, with October to December set aside for testing and handover to the operator by 31 December 2026. None of the reports I read gave a fare; it has not been announced yet. For what the line could mean for homes near Bukit Chagar, see my RTS Link article.

2. Exchange rate

Bank Negara Malaysia’s 5pm rates on 9 October 2026, as published by Business Today, put the Singapore dollar at RM3.1894 (buying) and RM3.1942 (selling). The midpoint is about RM3.19. I could not find a source I trust for the exact change over the past 12 months, so I am leaving that out this month rather than guess.

3. Budget 2027: what changed for property

Budget 2027 was tabled on 9 October 2026. According to The Star and PwC’s overview, the property measures were:

• First homes: full stamp duty exemption on the transfer and loan documents for homes up to RM500,000; for homes up to RM750,000, full exemption on the first RM500,000 and 50% on the rest. This covers agreements signed from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2030.
• Abandoned projects: full stamp duty exemption for rescue contractors, rescue developers and original buyers over the same period.
• Financing support: up to RM20 billion of SJKP guarantees for first-time buyers, mainly the self-employed.
• Johor: a new JS-SEZ industrial hub, Nexus Sedenak, and a multi-family office model for Forest City alongside the existing single family office scheme.

For Singaporeans, the key point is what is not there. PwC’s overview lists no change to RPGT and nothing on foreigners buying property. The first-home exemption has been framed for Malaysian citizens and permanent residents, and since 1 January 2026 transfers to non-citizens carry a fixed 8% stamp duty, per KPMG’s Budget 2026 summary. Budget 2027 did not change that in anything I read. My stamp duty guide has the full workings.

4. Johor market data

The latest figures I can source are for the first quarter. The New Straits Times, citing preliminary NAPIC data, reported 8,730 residential transactions in Johor in Q1 2026, worth RM4.45 billion and down 9.5% from a year earlier. About 63% were priced at RM500,000 or less.

On supply, The Star reported in July a bank research note citing NAPIC data: Johor had 108,863 existing serviced apartment units in Q1 2026, with a further 41,832 units incoming up to 2030. The note flagged oversupply risk in Johor Bahru’s high-rise segment if demand does not keep pace. If you are buying a high-rise unit to let, that matters more than any headline about the JS-SEZ.

5. Causeway and checkpoints

There was no major new checkpoint measure in early October. Use of Malaysia’s MyNIISe QR clearance keeps growing: Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution said in July that it had recorded more than 19.48 million QR transactions at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar and Sultan Abu Bakar complexes up to 28 June 2026. On the Singapore side, ICA’s phased Woodlands Checkpoint redevelopment, announced in June 2025, runs over 10 to 15 years, so expect it to help over time rather than this year.

6. What I’m telling Singaporean buyers this month

• Do not buy on the RTS date alone. The opening has already moved once. Check that the unit works for you, or for tenants, with today’s Causeway journey.
• Budget your costs in ringgit. Stamp duty, legal fees and maintenance are in ringgit, so price your plan at today’s rate and allow for it moving either way.
• Check supply before you buy to let. Ask how many units are coming up nearby, and look at actual rents for similar units. My guide to renting to commuters covers what tenants look for.

Questions about your situation?

Tell me what you own, what you are looking at and when, and I will tell you what this month’s news means for you.

If you’d like to see units in person, I can meet you at JB Sentral on a weekend and take you round: see my weekend viewing trip page.

Sources: The Star, “JB-Singapore RTS Link to commence operations in February 2027”, October 2026; Malay Mail, “JB-Singapore RTS Link service start pushed back to February 2027”, October 2026; Malay Mail, “Anthony Loke: RTS Link not delayed, buffer time needed for safety approvals”, October 2026; Business Today (Bank Negara Malaysia rates), “Foreign exchange rates, October 9, 2026”, October 2026; The Star, “Budget 2027: Govt proposes stamp duty exemptions for first-time homebuyers”, October 2026; PwC Malaysia, “Centre Stage: Budget 2027 overview”, October 2026; KPMG Malaysia, “Budget 2026: Stamp duty”, October 2025; New Straits Times, “State election unlikely to derail Johor home sales”, June 2026; The Star, “Johor high-rise segment faces oversupply risks”, July 2026; Malay Mail, “Saifuddin Nasution says MyNIISe app hits 2.4 million downloads, 19.48 million QR scans”, July 2026; ICA and SLA, “Update on the redevelopment and extension of Woodlands Checkpoint”, June 2025

Jason Lim, REN 84424, IQI Realty Sdn. Bhd. E (1) 1584/6. General information checked on 12 October 2026, not legal, tax or financial advice.