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
| Measure | Johor | Period and source |
|---|---|---|
| Residential transactions | 42,566 (2024: 42,565) | 2025; NAPIC report as summarised by PropPlace and SuperHomes |
| Value of residential transactions | RM20.94 billion (2024: RM20.64 billion) | 2025; same |
| Residential transactions | 8,730, down 9.5% year on year, worth RM4.45 billion | 1Q2026, preliminary; NST |
| Residential transactions | 17,871, down 15.1%, worth RM9.10 billion, down 7.7% | 1H2026; NAPIC report as summarised by SuperHomes |
| Completed unsold homes (overhang) | 4,222 units, highest of any state | 1H2026; NAPIC via MBSB Research, The Star |
| House price growth | +6.9% (national +2.6%), preliminary | 2025; NAPIC as summarised by SuperHomes |
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.
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
| Situation | Who has the edge | Why |
|---|---|---|
| High-rise in JB city, Danga Bay, Iskandar Puteri | Buyer | Large overhang and pipeline; time to compare and negotiate |
| Landed in established areas (Mount Austin, Bukit Indah, Tebrau) | Seller, mildly | Steady owner-occupier demand and rising resale prices |
| Units within walking distance of Bukit Chagar | Seller for now | Asking prices have already moved before opening |
| Forest City and remote high-rise | Buyer, but be wary | Thin resale and rental demand |
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.