Based on my analysis JB property prices will begin to head north ONLy and ONly when locals have the buying power.
Never otherwise... Not in the long run.
This is for the simple reason that i have repeated ever so often "Strong fundamentals are critical for the success of an economy"
JB has a very kampung economy interspersed with winds of liberalisation and nothing else.
So no matter what Najib or anyone else does.... unless they cause a fundamental shift in economy giving locals the buying power the economy wont change much, salary levels wont increase and therefore housing prices will head south or face stagnation.
Sounds dis heartening but well these are the facts that we gotta wake up to.
There is no point in investors buying up property in JB when there is nothing much they can do with it.
Like Wuqi mentioned several times "If its for own stay its great. Any capital appreciation is a bonus"
Hey AP... may i offer my views.
In Singapore you have Orchard, River Valley... and you have Macpherson, Sengkang, Geylang, etc. In other words it depends on location and the type of dwellings. In the present superhot market in Singapore, even prices at Pasir Ris, Sengkang, etc also shoot up. In a normal market these places are shunned.
There are countless examples of places where property prices have gone up in JB. HH - semi-D which cost 800k now costs close to a million. EL - phase 1 semi-D sold at 950k+ whereas phase 2 at 1.2m and all sold out. Even Nusa Idamn, corner terrace was 300k plus 2 years back but now costs about 500k.
Or look at Setia Tropika you would be very familiar how prices have gone up.
Now, when it comes to resale market it is a bit more tricky. We do have to bear in mind the market will be flooded with newly TOP properties over the next few years. Hence it depends whether demand can cope with supply or vice-versa. There is also the trend in JB that people are moving from their parents' homes at old places like Taman Selesa Jaya, Taman Tun Aminah, the old Bukit Indah areas, etc... to all these new and gated communities. One of the reason people like to buy new houses from developer is it is so easy. They just care about the first 10% downpayment and thereafter its all the monthly instalments. Hence the Eminent fellow Singaporean's case... it is indeed not easy to find someone willing to buy an old house when there are so many new launches out there.
Hence for me the question is always, which market are you looking at? For investment go for investors' favorite properties like EL and HH. The next question is - is the present entry price too high? That will be something each has to make his own judgement