Johor property sales set to boom with announcement

Rising demand: Johor’s property overhang issue has almost been resolved with the increase in the purchase of properties in the past year, says Mohd Jafni.

ISKANDAR PUTERI: The move to ease the conditions of the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme coupled with the rise in the cost of rental in Singapore will help to boost the sale of properties in Johor, says state executive councillor Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor.

The Johor housing and local government committee chairman said that between the first quarter of last year and quarter one of this year, the number of properties being sold in Johor had increased by 17%.

“Our property overhang issue has almost been resolved with the increase in the purchase of properties in the past year.

“Based on the data received, we are seeing a lot of properties being bought in the state, including by Malaysians working in Singapore as well as Singaporeans.

“One of the reasons for this is due to the hike in rental in Singapore, which almost doubled,” he told reporters after attending the launch ceremony of the Johor Anti-Litter programme here at Hutan Bandar Rini yesterday.

Also present at the event was Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

On the easing of the MM2H conditions, Mohd Jafni said it is a very welcome move that will further assist the state in solving the property overhang issue.

“Johor has been pushing for this from day one. We were the first to urge the Federal Government to ease the MM2H conditions and want them reverted to what they were previously.

“Other countries such as the Philippines and Thailand have similar programmes but their conditions are not as strict. “As such, we laud the Federal Government’s latest move to ease the conditions and this will help to further reduce property overhang not just in Johor but nationwide,” he said.

In 2021, the previous government reactivated the MM2H with several new conditions after it was suspended for about a year in view of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Previously, there was no minimum stay requirement for participants who only needed to place RM300,000 in fixed deposits while for those over 50, the amount was RM150,000.

Also introduced is a processing fee of RM5,000 for the principal participant and RM2,500 for each dependent.