KUALA LUMPUR: Johor will see the launch of thousands of new apartments, serviced apartments and condominiums by real estate developers in the coming quarters.

Samuel Tan, executive director of KGV International, stated that statistics indicate nearly 60,000 high-rise residential property units will be introduced to the market in the coming quarters.

Many of these developments, he said, already had planning or building approval.

Tan told NST Property that some of these included projects that were put on hold due to unfavorable market circumstances.

As at the third quarter of 2023 (Q323), there are a total of about 26,000 service apartments and about 31,000 apartments incoming and planned.

Some of the projects slated to be launched include Paragon Gateway at Taman Suria, One49 adjacent to Tebrau Highway, Residensi Laman Hijau at the former Royal Johor Golf and Country Club, Watermark Residences at Lido Waterfront Boulevard, and Oasis Residence at Jalan Wadi Hana, according to Tan.

"Landed properties used to be the main property type in Johor Bahru, accounting for about two-thirds of the total existing supply, but the trend has reversed progressively in the past 10 years. High-rise residences form two-thirds of the total future supply," Tan said.

Tan said that the uptick in the market reflects the market sentiment, which has shown signs of improvement given the visibility of the Johor Bahru-Singapore RTS project as well as the announcements of the proposed Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the shaping of Forest City into a Special Financial Zone (SFZ), and the potential revival of the KL-Singapore High Speed Rail.

Touted to be a 'game-changer', the RTS, together with the SEZ and SFZ, will change the landscape of the district.

The RTS is currently over 50 per cent complete and is on schedule to be operational by the beginning of 2027.

"The completion of this project will see the realisation of the long-awaited Shenzhen-Hong Kong model here.

"Travelling between Johor Bahru and Singapore will not only be faster but seamless. What needs to be addressed is to ensure that last-mile connectivity is addressed.

"The stakeholders are aware of this and are making plans to implement the park-and-ride concept with buildings and lands already identified for this purpose," he said.

Tan said that the Iskandar BRT should be ready by then to complement the RTS project.

"With the link completed, even offices, malls, and F&B outlets will benefit from it. We expect an influx of people from Singapore to JB due to the lower cost of living and more leisurely pace of lifestyle," he said.

In the meantime, Tan said that the increased demand that followed the Covid-19 lockout is leading to more developer launches.

The first few years were primarily used to clear out outdated inventory, but in 2023, new products with more affordable prices were introduced, he said.

Another factor contributing to the rise in demand for real estate is the opening of international borders.

The residential property sector showed positive year-on-year (YoY) performance in Q323, with transaction volume and value experiencing growth rates of 64.9 per cent and 936 per cent, respectively.

Up to Q323, 23,624 properties were transacted at RM16.17 billion, compared with 18,188 properties in the same period a year ago.

This indicates that transaction volume and value have already registered growth of 19 per cent and 16 per cent respectively, in the first nine months of the year compared to last year's annual figures.

Tan said that despite better market sentiment for high-rise residential properties in Johor, there are still a lot of completed units that remain unsold. "This is a challenge that the stakeholders have to face moving forward," he said.

There are about 16,000 overhang units on the market. Overhang units are units unsold after nine months from the date of the official launch.

Tan said that such an influx of high-rise residential properties if it continues unabated, might overstress the market.

However, he emphasised that landed residential properties continue to show resilience and high demand, especially those priced within RM600,000 and in popular locations.

Tan said that in order to tackle this problem, developers need to be prudent, and the authorities need to monitor and act accordingly should the future supply start to become excessive and unsustainable.