What does it cost to buy a condo in Johor?

Get all the data you need about the real estate market in Johor

What does a condo in Johor actually cost now?

A normal condo in Johor currently costs around RM450,000-RM700,000, although the range stretches from below RM300,000 in weaker resale markets to well above RM1 million in prime Johor Bahru projects.

The latest Brickz transaction data makes the middle of the market fairly clear. Across Johor, condominium transactions from July 2025 through June 2026 had a median price of RM458,000 and RM408 per sq ft. Looking specifically at all non-landed residential property in Johor Bahru pushes the median to RM500,888 and RM494 per sq ft.

The more expensive projects quickly leave those averages behind. Country Garden Danga Bay has recently traded around RM700,000, while R&F Tanjung Puteri has been close to RM960,000 with a median above RM1,000 per sq ft.

For Malaysian buyers, RM500,000-RM700,000 is still a very realistic condo budget. Foreign buyers face a completely different calculation because Johor normally sets a RM1 million minimum purchase price and adds state approval costs on top.

Johor condo market	Recent median price	Median price per sq ft	What that price represents
Johor condominiums statewide	RM458,000	RM408	Broad condo market
Johor Bahru non-landed property	RM500,888	RM494	Wider JB high-rise market
Country Garden Danga Bay	About RM700,000	About RM675	Established waterfront stock
R&F Tanjung Puteri	About RM960,000	RM1,072	Prime Singapore-facing central JB
Forest City	Around RM320,000	Around RM530	Low-ticket resale market

Why is one “average Johor condo price” almost useless?

One average Johor condo price hides a market where two similar-sized units can differ by several hundred thousand ringgit simply because they sit in different parts of Johor.

The statewide condo median currently sits around RM458,000, but that combines suburban projects, older apartments, Iskandar Puteri stock, Forest City and expensive Singapore-facing developments around central Johor Bahru.

Location explains a lot of the spread. A buyer paying around RM400-RM500 per sq ft in a normal suburban development can still find plenty of options, while some central projects are already above RM1,000 per sq ft.

Building age and unit size complicate things further. Smaller units often have much higher prices per square foot without necessarily costing more in total. A 600-sq-ft unit at RM900 per sq ft costs RM540,000, while a much larger 1,200-sq-ft condo at RM500 per sq ft costs RM600,000.

So we would start with the exact neighbourhood, project and unit size rather than a Johor-wide average.

Can you still buy a decent condo in Johor for RM300,000?

Yes, RM300,000 condos still exist in Johor today, but that budget mainly takes us into older, smaller, peripheral or heavily supplied resale markets.

Forest City shows how low prices can go. Recent transactions have clustered around the low-RM300,000s, with some units selling below RM300,000. Elsewhere, buyers can still find apartments around Masai, Seri Alam, Skudai and other suburban locations in roughly the RM300,000-RM400,000 range.

We would be more careful with these units than the price alone suggests. Cheap Johor condos often compete against a large amount of similar stock, which can make them harder to rent or resell. Building management and occupancy also become much more important in older developments.

RM300,000 is a genuine entry point into Johor condos. It just sits well below the part of the market receiving the strongest Singapore-linked demand.

What does RM500,000 buy in Johor right now?

RM500,000 is still enough to buy a proper mainstream condo in Johor, especially outside the most expensive parts of central Johor Bahru.

At RM400 per sq ft, that budget buys roughly 1,250 sq ft. At RM500 per sq ft, it buys about 1,000 sq ft. Once we move into a waterfront project trading closer to RM675 per sq ft, the same RM500,000 buys only about 740 sq ft.

Prime city-centre pricing changes the equation completely. At around RM1,050 per sq ft, RM500,000 corresponds to less than 480 sq ft.

That makes RM500,000 a surprisingly flexible budget in suburban Johor, while becoming quite restrictive near the most expensive Singapore-facing projects.

Budget	At RM400 psf	At RM500 psf	At RM675 psf	At RM1,050 psf
RM300,000	750 sq ft	600 sq ft	444 sq ft	286 sq ft
RM500,000	1,250 sq ft	1,000 sq ft	741 sq ft	476 sq ft
RM750,000	1,875 sq ft	1,500 sq ft	1,111 sq ft	714 sq ft
RM1,000,000	2,500 sq ft	2,000 sq ft	1,481 sq ft	952 sq ft
RM1,500,000	3,750 sq ft	3,000 sq ft	2,222 sq ft	1,429 sq ft

How expensive has central Johor Bahru become?

Prime central Johor Bahru has become genuinely expensive by Johor standards, with some newer or better-connected serviced apartments now selling at more than twice the price per square foot of ordinary JB high-rise stock.

R&F Tanjung Puteri is the clearest example. Brickz recorded 148 transactions over its latest comparable period at a median RM1,072 per sq ft, with the middle half of transactions running from RM922 to RM1,260 per sq ft.

JLL saw the same broader move earlier in the cycle. Its Johor Bahru market work found average serviced-apartment transaction prices reaching roughly RM709 per sq ft in the first half of 2025, more than 20% above the previous annual average. JLL also noted that newer launches around Bukit Chagar were coming to market around RM1,000-RM1,500 per sq ft.

Those figures put central JB into a different category from ordinary Johor condos. A buyer wanting walkable access to CIQ, JB Sentral and the future RTS connection is now paying a clear connectivity premium.

Has the RTS Link already pushed Johor condo prices up?

Yes, the RTS Link is already influencing condo prices around central Johor Bahru, although the strongest effect is concentrated around projects where cross-border convenience is genuinely useful.

The timing lines up. JLL recorded that sharp rise in serviced-apartment prices after interest in the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone intensified, while developers around Bukit Chagar began launching units at four-figure prices per square foot.

The RTS Link helps explain why the premium is so concentrated. A property that makes the Singapore commute easier has a specific advantage for tenants and owner-occupiers. A condo 20 or 30 minutes away by car does not receive the same benefit simply because it has a Johor Bahru address.

The JS-SEZ, new business investment and Singapore's much higher housing costs are also feeding demand, so we cannot attribute every ringgit of appreciation to one railway.

Still, buying near the RTS today already means paying for a good portion of its expected benefit. The cheap “buy before everyone discovers the RTS” phase has largely passed in the closest projects.

Is Danga Bay still cheaper than central Johor Bahru?

Yes, Danga Bay currently gives buyers noticeably more condo for their money than the most expensive parts of central Johor Bahru.

Country Garden Danga Bay is particularly useful because it has a large transaction sample. Brickz recorded more than 200 transactions over the latest 12-month period, with prices centred around RM700,000 and roughly RM675 per sq ft.

A theoretical 1,000-sq-ft unit at that rate works out at about RM675,000. A similar-sized unit in a project trading around RM1,050 per sq ft would cost roughly RM1.05 million.

That is almost RM400,000 more for the same floor area.

Danga Bay therefore occupies an interesting middle ground these days: much more expensive than Johor's cheapest suburban condos, while still clearly below prime CIQ and RTS-linked pricing.

Is Iskandar Puteri still cheap?

Iskandar Puteri remains cheaper than prime central Johor Bahru, but describing the area as a bargain across the board is increasingly difficult.

Many mainstream units remain within roughly RM500,000-RM800,000, which keeps the total purchase price accessible. Better projects in Medini and nearby neighbourhoods can nevertheless trade around RM600 per sq ft or above.

The difference with central JB is mostly the ceiling. Iskandar Puteri still offers large units without forcing buyers into four-figure prices per square foot.

That makes the area more convincing for buyers who care about space, schools, newer townships and longer-term Iskandar development than for someone whose main objective is walking to the Singapore border.

How cheap is Forest City now?

Forest City remains one of the cheapest high-profile condo markets in Johor, with resale units currently available at prices that would barely buy a small apartment in the strongest parts of Johor Bahru.

Recent transaction data has put the median around the low-RM300,000s. That is substantially below mainstream Johor Bahru pricing and less than half the total price of many units in Danga Bay.

The discount comes with a reason. Forest City was built at a huge scale, while actual resident and rental demand took far longer to develop. Buyers therefore face much more uncertainty around liquidity, occupancy and how easily another owner will take the unit off their hands later.

Recent policy attention and the Special Financial Zone have improved Forest City's story, and new business activity could gradually make the area more functional. We still would not price that future as if it had already happened.

At today's prices, Forest City can be extremely cheap in absolute terms. The hard part is deciding whether the discount is large enough to compensate for the much less proven resale market.

Do new condos in Johor cost much more than resale units?

Yes, some new Johor condos now carry very large premiums over completed resale stock, particularly around the RTS corridor.

The gap can easily reach hundreds of ringgit per square foot. New serviced apartments around the Bukit Chagar area have been launched around RM1,000-RM1,500 per sq ft, according to JLL, while plenty of established Johor high-rise stock still changes hands below RM700 per sq ft.

Suppose a new unit costs RM1,100 per sq ft and an established resale alternative costs RM650. On a 900-sq-ft condo, the difference reaches RM405,000.

Part of that extra price can be justified by newer specifications, facilities, location or a direct connection to future infrastructure. But buyers are also paying developers for expectations that may take years to become visible in rents.

For that reason, we would compare every new launch with actual transactions in nearby completed buildings. Comparing one developer's asking price with another developer's asking price tells us very little.

Can foreigners buy the RM400,000-RM600,000 Johor condos locals buy?

Generally no: Johor's normal minimum purchase price for foreign buyers is currently RM1 million, including apartments, serviced apartments and holiday homes bought on the resale market.

The Johor Land and Mines Office publishes the RM1 million threshold directly in its foreign-property acquisition rules. State consent is also required.

There is one important nuance. Johor's latest land-fee schedule explicitly includes serviced apartments and SOHO units that have been permitted by the state to sell to foreigners below the RM1 million minimum. Those approved cases carry a higher minimum consent fee of RM50,000.

We would treat that as a specific exemption that needs documentary proof for the exact project or unit. It does not turn every RM500,000 serviced apartment in Johor into a foreign-buyable property.

For most foreign buyers searching the ordinary resale market, RM1 million remains the sensible starting assumption.

How much does a RM1 million Johor condo really cost a foreign buyer?

A foreign buyer paying RM1 million for a Johor condo should currently budget roughly RM1.125 million or more before mortgage costs, renovation and furniture.

Malaysia's new transfer stamp-duty rate for non-citizens is 8%, which adds RM80,000 at this price. The Inland Revenue Board confirms that the higher rate applies to instruments submitted for stamping under the rules effective from 2026.

Johor then charges foreign interests 3% of the property value for state consent, subject to a RM30,000 minimum. At RM1 million, that is another RM30,000, plus a RM2,000 application charge per title.

The statutory scale fee for the purchase legal work is around RM11,250 at RM1 million before service tax and disbursements.

Those major items already take the transaction above RM1.12 million. Registration, searches, valuation where relevant and other legal disbursements push the total slightly higher.

The percentage-based charges also keep rising with the purchase price. A RM1.5 million condo produces roughly RM165,000 from the foreign transfer duty and Johor approval fee alone, so buying a more expensive unit does little to dilute the main government costs.

RM1m foreign purchase	Approximate amount
Condo price	RM1,000,000
Foreign transfer stamp duty	RM80,000
Johor state approval	RM30,000
State application fee	RM2,000
Purchase legal scale fee	RM11,250
Service tax, registration and disbursements	Additional
Realistic total before financing/furnishing	RM1.125m+

How much cash does a foreign buyer need with a mortgage?

A foreign buyer financing a RM1 million Johor condo can still need roughly RM400,000 or more in cash upfront.

Take a simple example with 70% financing. The buyer first needs RM300,000 for the portion the bank will not finance. Government charges and purchase legal costs then add well above RM100,000.

A RM700,000 mortgage also creates its own documentation costs, including the normal 0.5% loan stamp duty, which would be RM3,500 in this example, plus loan legal fees.

Foreign-buyer loan-to-value ratios vary considerably between banks and borrowers, so 70% should be treated as an illustration rather than a promise. Income, residency, nationality, existing debt and the property itself can all change the offer.

So financing a RM1 million Johor condo does not reduce the upfront requirement anywhere near RM300,000. A budget in the RM400,000-RM450,000 range is much safer before renovation and furniture enter the picture.

How much do Johor condo maintenance fees add each year?

A typical Johor condo can easily cost several thousand ringgit a year in maintenance and sinking-fund contributions, with larger or facility-heavy developments costing more.

A 1,000-sq-ft condo charged RM0.30 per sq ft per month generates RM3,600 a year in maintenance. At RM0.50, that rises to RM6,000 before adding the sinking fund.

For owner-occupiers, those numbers remain fairly manageable relative to the purchase price. Investors should pay closer attention because the charges come straight out of rental income.

A condo renting for RM2,500 a month produces RM30,000 in gross annual rent. Spending RM5,000 on maintenance and related building charges removes roughly one-sixth of that income before vacancy, repairs, taxes, agent fees or mortgage interest.

We would also check whether the management corporation is actually collecting enough money. A low monthly fee looks attractive until lifts, façades or common areas need expensive repairs and owners face a special levy.

Does Johor still have too many condos?

Yes, Johor still has enough unsold and underused high-rise stock that buyers should remain selective, even while the strongest parts of Johor Bahru are getting more expensive.

NAPIC data has repeatedly placed Johor among Malaysia's largest property-overhang markets, with condominiums, apartments and serviced residences making up a large part of the problem.

That legacy is visible when we compare buildings. Prime CIQ-linked projects can attract buyers at very high prices while another condo only a short drive away struggles to generate the same rent or resale demand.

The current recovery is highly selective. Cross-border workers, Singapore buyers, JS-SEZ activity and the RTS can absorb desirable stock, but none of those forces automatically fixes a poorly located project with hundreds of competing units.

For a Johor condo buyer today, actual occupancy, rental listings, building management and the number of similar units for sale can tell us more than a broad headline saying that “Johor property is booming.”

Can you trust Johor condo asking prices?

No, asking prices alone are a poor way to decide what a Johor condo is worth because sellers can list at any number they want.

We would start with actual registered transactions in the same project. Ideally, the comparison should use a similar unit size, floor, view and tenure rather than a building-wide average.

This becomes especially important in areas where sellers expect the RTS or JS-SEZ to push values higher. An owner can ask RM1.2 million because the future looks exciting; that tells us nothing about whether buyers have recently agreed to pay RM1.2 million.

New developments create the same problem in another form. Developer incentives, rebates, furnishing packages and progressive-payment schemes can make the advertised price difficult to compare directly with a straightforward resale transaction.

In Johor right now, Brickz and NAPIC transaction evidence is much more useful than scrolling through listings and averaging the numbers on screen.

What is a realistic Johor condo budget for a Malaysian buyer?

A Malaysian buyer with RM400,000-RM800,000 can still shop across a large part of Johor's condo market today.

Around RM300,000-RM400,000, the choice leans toward cheaper resales, older buildings and peripheral locations. Moving into RM500,000-RM700,000 opens much more of the mainstream market, including larger suburban units and better-established projects.

An RM800,000-RM1 million budget reaches stronger waterfront, Iskandar Puteri and city-fringe options. Once we go above RM1 million, the choice increasingly includes newer central projects, larger premium units and the Singapore-facing developments that have appreciated most.

For local buyers, Johor still offers a lot of physical space for the money. The expensive headlines around the RTS describe one increasingly valuable slice of the market rather than the entire state.

What is a realistic Johor condo budget for a foreign buyer?

For a foreign buyer, we would start with roughly RM1.15 million all-in and feel much more comfortable with RM1.3 million-RM1.5 million available.

The reason is straightforward. A property priced exactly at Johor's usual RM1 million foreign-buyer floor already produces more than RM120,000 of major purchase costs before financing and furnishing.

A slightly larger budget also avoids a strange trap: choosing a mediocre unit simply because its asking price has been positioned around the foreign-purchase threshold.

Approved serviced apartments below RM1 million can occasionally change this calculation, but those cases need to be verified individually with the state's approval and the title documentation. Buyers should never assume that an inexpensive listing is automatically eligible because an agent says foreigners can buy it.

For the normal foreign resale buyer, the realistic market starts above RM1 million rather than at Johor's local median.

So what does it really cost to buy a condo in Johor now?

For most Malaysian buyers, a realistic Johor condo costs roughly RM450,000-RM700,000 today, while RM800,000-RM1 million reaches much stronger locations and premium stock.

The cheap end remains very real. Buyers can still find units around RM300,000 in heavily supplied or peripheral markets. At the opposite end, prime central Johor Bahru has moved far enough that RM1 million-plus no longer looks unusual, particularly close to CIQ and the RTS corridor.

Foreign buyers need a separate benchmark. Johor's normal RM1 million acquisition floor, Malaysia's higher foreign transfer duty and the state's approval charge push a nominal RM1 million purchase to roughly RM1.125 million or more before financing, renovation and furniture.

The clearest way to think about Johor now is by budget. Around RM300,000 buys the bargain end. RM500,000-RM700,000 covers much of the normal local condo market. RM800,000-RM1 million buys stronger established stock. RM1 million-RM1.5 million increasingly buys central, newer or Singapore-facing property.

Johor is still affordable if we compare it with Singapore or Kuala Lumpur's premium neighbourhoods. But the best-connected parts of Johor Bahru are no longer cheap, and buyers who use the state's average condo price to judge those areas will underestimate the real cost by a very wide margin.

Who is the author of this content?

BAMBOOROUTES

A team specialized in real estate investing in APAC countries (Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, etc.).

We are a team of financial experts, legal professionals, developers, and local real estate specialists dedicated to helping people like you avoid mistakes when investing in real estate in a foreign place, particularly in Johor. If you’d like to learn more about us, you can check our presentation page.