Johor property shows signs of recovery

JOHOR BARU: Property developers in Johor can look forward to better days ahead after almost a year of slow sales due to to the economic recession, as the sector is beginning to see early signs of recovery in the state, said Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) Johor branch chairman Lee Kim Chai.

“Our members reported slightly better sales in the second and the third quarters of the year and expect the momentum to continue until this last quarter,” he told StarBiz recently.

“Iskandar Malaysia, which is already in its third year, will be the main driving factor that will help push up demand for properties in south Johor,” he said.

Lee noted that in the last Malaysia Property Expo (Mapex) held in Johor in April, the 31 developers who took part in the four-day event had raked in RM120mil in sales over a one-month period.

He said the 30-day period starting from the first day of Mapex was the benchmark used by Rehda to determine the value of sales by participating developers.

The current Mapex Johor, which starts today and ends on Sunday, will be held for the first time at the Persada Johor International Convention Centre.

The 33 participating developers are offering 8,000 completed units with certificates of fitness in the four-day event, with over RM1.8bil worth of properties up for sale.

“Our members are hoping to record better sales this time, around RM150mil or more within a month,” Lee said, adding that developers should learn from the lessons of the economic downturn, such as to offer better products and not to overbuild.

There will also be two property talks on Sunday by Kuala Lumpur-based property consultant Ho Chin Soon.