Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Johor lawmakers warn of housing glut in Iskandar

KUALA LUMPUR — Picking up on a warning by Malaysia’s largest bank of the risks of a housing glut in Iskandar, Johor lawmakers have cautioned against foreign investors’ optimism about the development corridor’s economic boom and population growth, saying that demand for premium homes in Iskandar has lagged far behind supply.

Housing projects were never the focus of Iskandar, and without sufficient supporting services and industries, the region is not yet able to accommodate a surge in tourism or fulfil foreign investors’ needs. Photo: Raj Nadarajan

Housing projects were never the focus of Iskandar, and without sufficient supporting services and industries, the region is not yet able to accommodate a surge in tourism or fulfil foreign investors’ needs. Photo: Raj Nadarajan

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

KUALA LUMPUR — Picking up on a warning by Malaysia’s largest bank of the risks of a housing glut in Iskandar, Johor lawmakers have cautioned against foreign investors’ optimism about the development corridor’s economic boom and population growth, saying that demand for premium homes in Iskandar has lagged far behind supply.

“There is a misconception about the demand market here ... there is a clear mismatch between supply and demand,” Mr Shahrir Abdul Samad, Member of Parliament (MP) for Johor Baru, told the Malay Mail Online.

“There is an oversupply of premium properties, (but) the demand ... is for medium- and low-cost ones, owing to people’s incomes,” added the former Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister.

Singaporeans have also been snapping up units in Iskandar — which is three times the size of Singapore — lured by the lower costs and a slower pace of life in Johor.

Last week, a Maybank research report advised investors to be cautious about the region, due to the glut of homes in Iskandar, a situation it expects will be aggravated by a huge incoming supply this year and the next.

The bank expects property values in Iskandar to come under greater pressure in the medium term, especially with the value of property transactions in Johor having dipped 33 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the October-to-December period last year.

Mr Shahrir said it was only natural for developers of premium residential properties in Iskandar to be hardest-hit by the dip in prices and secondary sales, as those projects were never the focus of the region.

“You have to be fair to Iskandar, as housing was never part of its main draft. The crux of its investment was more on services, hospitality and manufacturing, as well as allocations for small- and medium-sized enterprises. The investments we are interested in are not housing, and this is why we have called in Pinewood and Legoland to Iskandar,” said Mr Shahrir, referring to South-east Asia’s largest integrated studio facility and the popular theme park, respectively.

“That is the main investment strategy, but because of all these, foreign developers think there is a demand for their properties, and that is not happening. This is what’s happening, and they have to live with it. If they are willing to take the risk, then we can’t stop them,” the senior lawmaker from United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) said.

There are about 80,900 units of approved high-rise residences in Iskandar. Latest statistics from Malaysia’s National Property Information Centre showed that as of the fourth quarter of last year, there were 142,567 homes under construction in the state of Johor, with another 193,271 units planned — among the highest in all of Malaysia.

The aggressive land-banking activities by Chinese developers such as Country Garden and Guangzhou R&F Properties could worsen the glut and lead to price wars in the high-rise mixed-development segment, the Maybank report said.

Dr Boo Cheng Hau, Johor opposition leader and Skudai assemblyman, noted that these residential projects were launched without sufficient supporting services or industries in place to make them viable in the near term.

The Democratic Action Party (DAP) MP said the region was not yet able to accommodate a surge in tourism or fulfil the needs of foreign investors seeking to take advantage of Malaysia’s second-home schemes.

“There will be a sustainable demand for properties here, but not in the near future. It will take another five to 10 years to see a boom in sectors such as manufacturing, services and so on, (and) a more steady increase in demand for properties,” Dr Boo said in an earlier email interview.

Mr Liew Chin Tong, DAP’s Kluang MP, stressed that the rapid pace of property development in Iskandar had no real legs on which to stand, a situation that is not helped by the nationwide slowdown in the property market.

“Johor is a case of killing the golden goose too fast, too greedily. The property market is not sustained by a genuine working population with income to support their investments, while borrowing rates are surging, waiting for the bubble to burst,” Mr Liew said when contacted.

The Maybank report also included an assessment of some of the high-profile projects in Iskandar.

At Guangzhou R&F Properties’ Princess Cove project, it noted that despite its prime location in the city centre of Johor Baru, the take-up rate for residential towers launched in its first phase rose only slightly, from 46 per cent in October last year to about 60 per cent currently.

Country Garden’s project in Johor Baru’s Danga Bay area is also about 60 per cent sold. A similar proportion of projects at Danga Bay by Greenland, another Chinese property developer, have been booked.

“We remain cautious about the increasingly crowded development space in Iskandar Malaysia and think the oversupply situation is likely to get worse ... This will be aggravated by ample incoming supply by end-2015 and 2016 from units that were launched during Iskandar Malaysia’s peak time in 2012 and 2013,” the report warned.

However, UMNO’s Pulai MP, Mr Nur Jazlan Mohamed, believes the upcoming RM53 billion (S$19.7 billion) Pengerang Refinery and Petrochemicals Integrated Development (RAPID) project will provide the needed jobs and spending capacity to revive the region’s flagging property market.

“Property in Iskandar is experiencing a down cycle, but (sales) will pick up once corporate businesses like RAPID kick-start. Once corporations set up businesses in Iskandar, things will pick up. When businesses come in offering higher job opportunities, only then will the supply (of residential property) be taken up. (Iskandar) will not become a white elephant,” he said. MALAY MAIL

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.