Foreigners aren’t buying up Johor real estate, says MB

DATUK Mohamed Khaled Nordin dispelled the perception that foreigners are snapping up property in Johor.

The Johor Mentri Besar said of 1.3 million pieces of property in Johor, only 9,459 or 0.72% was owned by foreigners.

And, of the 93,411 strata property available in the state, only 1,088 (1.16%) was bought by foreigners, he told the assembly.Mohamed Khaled said the state government was in the final process of implementing an international zone for property development only for foreigners.

“Soon, foreigners can only buy properties in the zone. We are in the midst of identifying the area and (this) will be introduced later this year,” he told Datuk Samsol Bari Jamali (BN-Semarang) and Ayub Jamil (BN-Rengit).

He added that among the state-introduced guidelines were to allow only foreigners to buy property at a RM1mil threshold, and allowing only Malaysians to buy low or medium-cost terrace houses.

Mohamed Khaled also said based on the National Property Information Centre (Napic) last year, Johor recorded about 58,547 transfers of property.

He added that in the same period, the state only approved 7,830 foreign applications; where about 6,315 were meant for building and housing.

He also added that the size of Malay reserve land in the state had increased from 432,157ha last year to 554,924ha or a 6.4% jump until April 30.

“Johor will always belong to Johoreans, and as a responsible Barisan Nasional-led government, we will ensure it remains for locals to have the opportunity to buy a property here,” he said.

Meanwhile, Senai assemblyman Wong Shu Qi (DAP) urged the state government to bar foreign property buyers from buying lots on freehold land.

She said Johor saw a 400% increase in property buyers from China in 2014 compared to the previous year.

Wong said that based on statistics, Chinese national buyers increased to 2,078 in 2014 from 436 in 2013.

“The foreigners should only be allowed to buy property on leasehold land and the state should retain freehold property for sale to locals,” Wong told reporters outside the state assembly hall.