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SUMMARY
Yes, buy-to-let property in Johor can be profitable now, but only when the purchase price produces a strong enough rental yield from the start.
The demand story is genuinely better than it was a few years ago. Large investment inflows, the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone and the approaching RTS Link are giving southern Johor more potential tenants than a simple “Singapore is expensive” story ever could.
The catch is that stronger demand has arrived alongside higher property prices. In some developments, buyers are now paying much more for rental income that has not risen nearly as fast, which can quietly turn a good location into a weak buy-to-let.
Gross yields around 5% to 6% are realistic in parts of Johor Bahru, and selected smaller or older resale units can push above 6%. The best numbers tend to come from buying well rather than from choosing the newest or most fashionable tower.
That makes entry price unusually important in Johor. Two near-identical units can produce very different returns simply because one owner paid RM50,000 or RM100,000 less for the same rent.
Oversupply is still the market's biggest structural weakness. A landlord can be in a strong district and still compete with dozens or hundreds of similar units inside the same project, which affects rent, vacancy and resale liquidity.
Financing makes mediocre deals look worse. Once mortgage interest, maintenance, sinking fund contributions, vacancy, repairs and agent fees are included, a 4% to 5% gross yield can become thin very quickly.
Older condos sometimes make more sense than new launches because tenants do not always pay the premium that buyers pay for newness. Proven tenant demand at a lower resale price can be more valuable than a glossy launch story.
Foreign buyers face a tougher version of the same calculation. Johor's usual RM1 million foreign-purchase threshold excludes many of the cheaper units with the strongest yields, while the foreign approval fee and 8% transfer stamp duty make the entry cost much heavier.
Our practical cut-off is fairly strict: around 6% gross with a clear tenant pool is attractive enough to analyse seriously, around 5% needs careful cost control, and below roughly 4% to 4.5% the deal is usually more of a capital-growth bet than a true income investment.
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Why is Johor buy-to-let getting so much attention now?
Johor buy-to-let deserves more attention today because the economic story around Johor Bahru has become much stronger, while the RTS Link is getting close enough to affect real tenant decisions rather than distant expectations.
The newest investment numbers are hard to dismiss. MIDA reported RM59.4 billion of approved investment in Johor during the first half of 2026, making it Malaysia’s second-largest investment destination after Selangor. That follows RM77 billion of approved investment inside the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone during 2025, across 393 projects expected to create 18,406 jobs.
Those figures broaden the rental story beyond people simply moving to Johor because Singapore is expensive. New manufacturing, data-centre, logistics, technology and service-sector projects bring engineers, managers and other skilled workers into southern Johor. At the same time, some households earning Singapore salaries can live on the Malaysian side.
The RTS adds another layer. Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs still expects passenger service to start in December. The train is designed to carry up to 10,000 passengers per hour in each direction between Bukit Chagar and Woodlands North, with a journey of roughly five minutes and both countries’ immigration checks completed before boarding.
Johor therefore has more ways to create tenants than it did a few years ago. Whether landlords make good money from those tenants is a separate question, because purchase prices and apartment supply have moved too.
What rental yield can you actually get in Johor Bahru today?
A realistic gross rental yield for many Johor Bahru condos today is around 4% to 6%, while carefully bought smaller or older units can sometimes push above 6%.
Current listings show just how wide the gap can be between buildings and unit sizes. At Twin Galaxy, studios around 560 sq ft are being offered near RM410,000, with asking rents around RM1,800 to RM2,200 a month. That works out to roughly 5.3% to 6.4% gross.
R&F Princess Cove gives a different picture. Recent PropertyGuru listings include an 800 sq ft two-bedroom at RM2,700 a month, while comparable units for sale can sit around RM700,000. That combination produces a gross yield around 4.6%. Smaller studios can do better because rents per square foot are higher.
Danga Bay can also reach the 5% to 6% range when investors buy cheaply. At Tropez Residences, for example, smaller resale units around RM350,000 to RM370,000 can rent for roughly RM1,500 to RM1,850, depending on size and condition.
These are asking-price calculations, so we would never treat them as guaranteed achieved returns. They are still useful because they show the current shape of the market: a 6% Johor yield exists, but buyers usually have to find it rather than assume every condo delivers it.
| Johor Bahru example | Asking purchase price | Asking monthly rent | Approx. gross yield | What we learn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twin Galaxy studio | ~RM410k | RM1.8k–2.2k | 5.3%–6.4% | Small central units can work well |
| R&F Princess Cove 2BR | ~RM700k | ~RM2.7k | ~4.6% | Premium location can compress yield |
| Tropez smaller unit | RM350k–370k | RM1.5k–1.85k | ~4.9%–6.3% | Entry price changes the deal dramatically |
| Selected Molek units | ~RM700k+ | RM4k+ | Often above 6% | Family-oriented rentals can outperform |
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Does living near the Johor-Singapore RTS automatically mean a better investment?
Buying near the Johor-Singapore RTS can make a Johor rental easier to fill, but paying too much for that advantage can leave the investor with a mediocre yield.
The rental benefit is straightforward. The RTS will connect Bukit Chagar with Woodlands North in about five minutes, and passengers will clear Malaysian and Singaporean immigration before boarding. For someone working in Singapore, that can remove a large part of the uncertainty that currently comes with crossing the Causeway by road.
That convenience already shows up in rents. At R&F Princess Cove, PropertyGuru’s latest market data puts average asking rent around RM5 per sq ft for studios, one-bedrooms and two-bedrooms, while larger units tend to rent for less per square foot.
The problem comes on the purchase side. R&F has thousands of units, and current portal data shows hundreds of units competing for buyers and tenants. A landlord can therefore own an excellent location while still facing plenty of competition inside the same development.
The RTS should improve tenant demand around central Johor Bahru. We would still want roughly a 5.5% to 6% starting gross yield rather than accepting a weak return simply because the station is nearby.
Has the RTS boom already pushed Johor property prices too high?
Part of the RTS upside has already been priced into Johor Bahru property, so buying today requires much more discipline than buying before the infrastructure story became obvious.
JLL found that average serviced-apartment transaction prices in Johor Bahru during the second quarter of 2025 were 20.4% above the 2024 annual average. Double-storey terrace prices were about 8.6% higher. Those are large moves for a market where rents have not risen at the same speed everywhere.
The yield effect is easy to see. Take an apartment renting for RM2,500 a month. At RM500,000, it produces 6% gross. If the price reaches RM600,000 while rent rises to RM2,700, the landlord receives more rent but the gross yield falls to 5.4%.
At RM700,000, that same RM2,700 rent produces only 4.6%.
This is one of the biggest traps in Johor right now. Stronger property prices are good news for existing owners, while a new landlord can end up buying the same rent at a much more expensive price.
The RTS can genuinely improve the rental market. We just would not pay an unlimited premium for a benefit that buyers have already known about for years.
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Can Danga Bay still make money as a rental investment?
Danga Bay can still produce a profitable rental today when the resale price is low enough, although landlords there face much heavier competition than in genuinely scarce projects.
Royal Strand shows the basic economics. Two-bedroom units around 850 to 890 sq ft are currently advertised for roughly RM2,100 to RM2,300 a month. Comparable units can be found around RM480,000 to RM590,000.
At RM480,000 and RM2,300 monthly rent, gross yield reaches about 5.75%. Pay RM590,000 for roughly the same rental income and the yield falls below 4.7%.
Tropez Residences can work better because some entry prices are lower. A RM360,000 unit renting at RM1,850 generates roughly 6.2% gross. That leaves considerably more room for maintenance, vacancy and repairs than a 4.5% deal.
The obvious drawback is choice. Large Danga Bay projects frequently have many similar units advertised at the same time. Tenants can compare landlords very easily, so an empty unit may need a cheaper rent, better furniture or both.
Danga Bay is one of those Johor markets where buying RM50,000 cheaper can matter more than choosing the prettier tower.
| Danga Bay example | Purchase price | Monthly rent | Gross yield | Read on the deal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Royal Strand | RM480k | RM2.3k | ~5.8% | Interesting at the lower resale price |
| Royal Strand | RM590k | RM2.3k | ~4.7% | Same tenant, weaker investment |
| Tropez Residences | RM360k | RM1.85k | ~6.2% | Much better income cushion |
| Tropez Residences | RM340k | RM1.5k | ~5.3% | Still workable if vacancy stays low |
Do older Johor condos sometimes make more money than new ones?
Older Johor condos can beat new launches on rental yield because tenants often refuse to pay the same premium that buyers pay for a brand-new building.
Twin Galaxy is a good example. Small units can still produce gross yields around 6% from current asking prices and rents, despite the project being older than the latest wave of Johor launches.
Molek Pine offers another type of opportunity. Larger units aimed at families and expatriates can command rents above RM4,000 while resale prices remain far below the cost of similarly spacious units in many newer projects. Some current listing combinations imply gross yields around 6% to 7%.
New developments can still win on facilities, condition and future resale appeal. The issue is price. Developers can charge buyers for newness, branding and an optimistic future. Tenants usually focus more on whether the apartment is convenient, pleasant and fairly priced.
We would rather buy an older Johor condo yielding 6.5% with a proven tenant base than a shiny launch yielding 4% because someone promises future capital appreciation.
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Is Johor still oversupplied with condos?
Johor still has too many apartments in several parts of the market, and that remains one of the biggest risks for buy-to-let landlords today.
NAPIC’s latest available market-status publications continue to show a large stock of unsold serviced apartments in Johor. Earlier 2026 data put completed unsold serviced apartments close to 10,000 units, giving Johor the largest such inventory among Malaysian states.
The problem becomes easier to understand when we look at individual developments. PropertyGuru currently shows R&F Princess Cove Phase 1 with 3,724 total units. Its wider project page also carries hundreds of units for sale and rent. Portal listings contain duplicates and should never be confused with vacancy statistics, but a tenant clearly has plenty of alternatives.
That competition affects more than rent. It also affects the exit. A landlord trying to sell one generic two-bedroom unit can find several owners offering almost the same floor plan in the same building.
Johor’s broader property market has plenty of transactions, so the state itself is active. The real liquidity question is whether someone wants our specific unit without demanding a big discount.
Oversupply will hurt generic apartments first. Buildings with an unusually good location, a clear commuter advantage or a well-established family tenant base have a better chance of escaping the worst of it.
Are Johor rents rising fast enough to keep up with property prices?
Johor rents are getting stronger in good locations, but we do not see enough evidence to assume that rent growth will automatically catch up with every recent increase in purchase prices.
That distinction is crucial for a landlord. If rent rises 10% while the apartment price rises 20%, the property has become more expensive relative to the income it produces.
Suppose a condo goes from RM500,000 to RM600,000 while rent climbs from RM2,500 to RM2,750. The landlord earns 10% more rent, yet gross yield falls from 6% to 5.5%.
The current Johor story makes that risk unusually relevant. Property buyers have been reacting to the RTS, the JS-SEZ and large investment announcements for some time. Tenants react when jobs actually appear, commuting really becomes easier and a specific location becomes more useful to them.
Those timelines do not always move together.
We would therefore pay more attention to rent-to-price ratios today than to claims that Johor prices have further to run. Buy-to-let works when the rent supports the purchase price we are paying now.
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Does a Johor mortgage leave any profit after the monthly payment?
A leveraged Johor buy-to-let can still make money today, but 4% to 5% gross yields leave very little room once mortgage interest and normal ownership costs start eating into the rent.
Bank Negara has just kept Malaysia’s Overnight Policy Rate at 2.75%, unchanged throughout 2026 so far. Actual housing-loan rates are higher because banks price mortgages above their funding benchmark and adjust the rate for the borrower.
That puts financing in roughly the same order of magnitude as the gross yield on many Johor condos. A 4.5% gross rental yield can look acceptable on a property portal and become disappointing once leverage is added.
Consider a RM600,000 apartment yielding 5%, or RM30,000 a year in gross rent. A buyer financing most of the purchase still has interest costs, condominium maintenance, sinking-fund contributions, assessment tax, quit rent, insurance, repairs and occasional vacancy.
At a 6.5% starting yield, there is more room for those costs. Around 4%, there is very little.
For a financed Johor buy-to-let, we would currently see 6% gross as a much healthier starting point than 4% to 5%.
| Starting gross yield | What it feels like with financing | Room for costs | Our view |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below 4% | Financing can overwhelm the rental return | Very little | Mostly a capital-growth bet |
| 4%–5% | Cash flow can become thin quickly | Low | Needs an excellent purchase price or low leverage |
| 5%–6% | More workable | Moderate | Worth analysing carefully |
| 6%–7%+ | Much better income cushion | Stronger | Best range for a true buy-to-let |
How much of a Johor rental yield disappears after real costs?
A Johor condo advertised at a 6% gross yield will usually deliver a noticeably lower real return once vacancy, fees, maintenance and repairs are included.
A simple example makes the difference clear. A RM500,000 apartment renting at RM2,500 a month shows a 6% gross yield if it stays occupied for all twelve months.
Lose one month between tenants and annual rent drops from RM30,000 to RM27,500. The yield is already down to 5.5% before paying any other cost.
Condominium owners then have maintenance and sinking-fund charges. Furnished rentals need air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, furniture and periodic replacement. Agents may also take a commission when finding a new tenant.
The exact net yield depends too much on the building and financing structure to give one honest Johor-wide number. What we can say confidently is that a gross yield below 5% does not leave much space for mistakes.
That is why we would screen deals using gross yield first, then calculate every recurring cost before deciding whether the investment is genuinely profitable.
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Will the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone really create enough renters?
The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone should create more renters, but its investment boom will not rescue every condo across southern Johor.
The newest evidence is stronger than it was even a few months ago. MIDA reported RM59.4 billion of approved investment across Johor in the first half of 2026. Separately, the JS-SEZ recorded RM77 billion of approved investment in 2025, with 393 projects linked to 18,406 expected jobs.
The important part for landlords is where those jobs appear. The JS-SEZ covers a huge area including Johor Bahru, Iskandar Puteri, Pasir Gudang, Kulai, Pontian and Pengerang. A new factory in Pasir Gudang does very little for a badly located condo on the other side of the region.
Tenant type matters too. A semiconductor engineer, a Singapore commuter, a logistics worker and an expatriate family do not necessarily want the same apartment.
The better Johor buy-to-let locations should benefit from several groups at once. Central Johor Bahru is attractive because commuters, office workers and visitors overlap there. Established areas such as Molek can attract families and professionals for different reasons.
Investment coming into Johor is now large enough to support a real rental-demand story. We still have to connect each property to the people who might actually rent it.
Which Johor properties look best for buy-to-let now?
The strongest Johor buy-to-let opportunities today tend to be established condos bought at a sensible resale price, especially when the building already has a clear group of tenants.
Small central units are one obvious candidate. Studios and compact apartments close to CIQ or Bukit Chagar can earn more rent per square foot because the location is especially valuable to people moving between Johor and Singapore.
Older resale condos can also make sense when the price has lagged behind the rent. Twin Galaxy and some Danga Bay stock show how buying below RM500,000 can create a yield that would be difficult to reproduce in a much more expensive new development.
Family-oriented apartments are another interesting corner of the market. A large unit in Molek that rents for more than RM4,000 can compete for a different tenant from the thousands of small serviced apartments around the city centre.
What worries us most are expensive launches where the investment case depends on the next buyer paying even more. If the starting rent only produces 3.5% or 4%, the owner is effectively relying on capital appreciation to rescue a weak income investment.
| Type of Johor property | Typical attraction | Yield potential | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small central condo | Singapore-linked renters | Often 5%–6%+ | High purchase premium in fashionable projects |
| Older central resale | Lower entry price | Can exceed 6% | Building age and maintenance |
| Danga Bay resale | Cheap price per unit | Often 5%–6% | Heavy competing supply |
| Established family condo | Higher absolute rent | Can reach 6%+ | Smaller tenant pool |
| Premium new launch | New facilities and future story | Often weaker initially | Paying too much before rents catch up |
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Does Johor buy-to-let still make sense for foreign buyers?
Johor buy-to-let is much harder to justify for foreigners now because the best cheap-yield opportunities are often below the foreign purchase threshold, while acquisition taxes have become significantly heavier.
Johor generally requires foreign buyers to purchase residential property worth at least RM1 million. The Johor Land and Mines Office also charges foreign purchasers an approval fee equal to 3% of the property value, subject to a minimum of RM30,000.
Malaysia has made the gap wider. Residential property transfers to foreign citizens are now subject to an 8% stamp-duty rate.
On a RM1 million purchase, those two items alone come to roughly RM110,000: RM80,000 of transfer stamp duty plus RM30,000 for Johor’s foreign-acquisition approval fee. Legal fees and other costs come on top.
This creates a strange problem for buy-to-let investors. Some of the most interesting Johor yields we found come from RM350,000 to RM700,000 resale apartments. Those are exactly the properties a typical foreign purchaser cannot buy under Johor’s normal threshold.
A Malaysian investor can therefore look at a RM400,000 studio yielding around 6%. A foreign buyer may be pushed toward a RM1 million property where the rent does not rise proportionally with the purchase price.
For foreigners, we would demand an unusually convincing rental case before accepting Johor’s current entry costs.
Can you make more money from short-term rentals in Johor?
Short-term rentals can beat normal monthly rents in some Johor projects, but the higher headline revenue comes with much more work, more volatility and building-level restrictions that investors need to check before buying.
Central Johor Bahru has obvious short-stay demand from Singapore visitors, weekend travellers, business guests and families crossing the border. Properties near CIQ can therefore earn far more per night than their equivalent long-term daily rent.
Occupancy is the harder part. A unit charging RM250 per night does not earn RM7,500 every month unless someone books it every night. At 60% occupancy, gross room revenue would be closer to RM4,500 before platform commissions, cleaning, utilities, linen replacement, management and furnishing wear.
Long-term renting gives up some upside but removes a lot of operational friction. The tenant generally pays utilities, turnover is much lower and income is easier to forecast.
Building rules can also change the calculation completely. Investors need to verify whether the management corporation permits short-term accommodation rather than assuming every serviced apartment can legally or practically operate like an Airbnb.
For a passive buy-to-let investor, we would still base the purchase decision on the long-term rental yield. Short stays are safer to treat as optional upside.
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Is buy-to-let property in Johor actually profitable now?
Yes, selected buy-to-let property in Johor is profitable now, but we would reject a large part of the market because purchase prices, financing costs and condo supply make mediocre deals very easy to find.
For Malaysian buyers, the numbers become interesting when an established apartment can be bought around a 6% gross yield or better. Current listings show that this is possible in parts of Twin Galaxy, Tropez, Molek and some smaller central units. Once the starting yield falls toward 4%, the investment becomes far more dependent on future price appreciation.
The demand side has clearly improved. Johor attracted RM59.4 billion of approved investment in the first half of 2026, while the JS-SEZ is bringing projects and skilled jobs into southern Johor. The cross-border rail connection is also now close enough to influence how people think about living in Johor Bahru and working in Singapore.
Supply remains the reason to stay selective. Johor still carries a large stock of unsold serviced apartments, and many major projects have hundreds or thousands of similar units. A stronger city does not automatically create scarcity inside every condominium.
Foreign buyers face an even tougher calculation. The RM1 million general threshold removes many of the cheap resale units with the best yields, while the 8% transfer stamp duty and Johor’s foreign approval charge make the entry price much heavier.
Our cut-off today would be fairly unforgiving. Around 6% gross or more, with a proven tenant pool and a sensible resale price, Johor can work well as a real income investment. Around 5%, we would inspect every cost carefully. Below roughly 4% to 4.5%, we would usually walk away unless there is an unusually strong reason to expect capital growth.
So yes, Johor buy-to-let can make money now. The profitable deals are there, but the easy-money story is much weaker than the excitement around Johor suggests.
OUR METHODOLOGY
This analysis tests whether buy-to-let property in Johor is profitable today by breaking the question into the parts that actually determine a landlord’s return: tenant demand, purchase prices, achievable rents, gross yields, financing conditions, competing supply, operating costs and buyer-specific rules.
We did not treat stronger investment or the RTS Link as proof that every Johor rental is a good investment. Those factors only improve the case when they support real tenant demand at a price that still leaves enough rental yield. Likewise, the current listing examples are used to test what is achievable in specific buildings, not as guaranteed transaction prices or a single Johor-wide average.
For the broader demand and infrastructure picture, we prioritized official sources including MIDA’s 2026 investment data, MIDA’s 2025 Investment Performance Report, the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry’s JS-SEZ material, Singapore’s Land Transport Authority and Ministry of Home Affairs on the RTS Link, and MRT Corp’s project specifications.
For supply, pricing, financing and foreign-buyer rules, we relied on NAPIC market reports, JLL’s Johor market analysis, Bank Negara Malaysia’s OPR decisions, the Johor Land and Mines Office, Malaysia’s 2026 tax measures, and the Ministry of Housing and Local Government’s strata-management framework.
Key sources include: MIDA on Johor’s H1 2026 approved investment, MIDA’s Malaysia Investment Performance Report 2025, Singapore MTI on the JS-SEZ, Singapore LTA on RTS Link capacity and journey time, Singapore MHA on border-control co-location, JLL on Johor Bahru property pricing and the JS-SEZ, NAPIC’s 2025 Property Market Report, Bank Negara Malaysia’s OPR decisions, Johor Land and Mines Office on foreign acquisition rules, Johor Land and Mines Office on approval fees, and Malaysia’s 2026 tax measures.
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