7 August, JOHOR BAHRU – Iskandar Malaysia requires about 1.2 million residential properties by 2025 to cater to the economic region’s rapidly growing population, says Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Datuk Ismail Ibrahim.
He said there was demand for both strata or landed properties but stressed that prices must be affordable.
When we launched Iskandar Malaysia in 2006, the population was about 1.49 million. Today, the population has grown to 1.95 million and by 2025, it is forecast to reach three million.
This growth resulted from migration, many are coming here to seek employment. Based on this, we anticipate for residential properties to climb to about 1.2 million units by 2025, he said after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with four new data sharing partners, namely Valuation and Property Services Department, iProperty.com.my, Nextdor Property Communications and REI Group here today.
Ismail said there were only about 700,000 residential units currently available in Iskandar Malaysia and there was an urgent need to ensure sufficient housing to meet demand.
When we talk about supply, we must be able to meet the demand based on household purchasing power.
That is why it is very important for us to work together with authorities and housing developers to ensure the supply of future housing matches demand, especially from the less affluent groups, he said.
Meanwhile, Valuation Department Director-General Nordin Daharom said more than 40 per cent of the residential properties sold in Malaysia fetched an average price of between RM200,000 and RM300,000.
“I encourage developers to build more of these types of (affordable) residential properties to cater to demand, he added.
Speaking on the MoUs, Ismail said the pacts would enable collaboration in gathering data and information on issues concerning the property market and help facilitate solutions.
– BERNAMA