Iskandar still seeing rapid economic growth, says IRDA chief

SKUDAI (June 5): Iskandar Malaysia is still experiencing rapid economic growth, said Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) CEO Datuk Ismail Ibrahim today.

The economic region has been the subject of negative press reports about the state of the property market in Johor, where it is located.

“People are not able to fully understand that Iskandar Malaysia is not about property players. [It] is about balanced growth based on fundamental economic sectors and we have been able to demonstrate that through the nine sectors that we are experiencing growth,” he said.

Ismail added that some of the industries include tourism, creative, logistics, healthcare and education which have collectively generated over 500,000 jobs to date since 2006. This job creation is intended to increase demand for property.

However, he said supply of properties in the Iskandar market should be balanced “in terms of prices” as “not everyone earns the same”.

He claimed Iskandar Malaysia has attracted a total of RM166 billion worth of investments from 2006 to March 2015, with 24% or RM40 billion directly invested in the property sector; half of the RM166 billion has already been realised.

Ismail was speaking to reporters at the opening ceremony of the Malaysian Secondary Property Exhibition (Maspex) Johor 2015 in Sutera Mall here.

The exhibition is an annual event organised by Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) to promote secondary properties in attractive locations for owner-occupiers and investors in the state, said MIEA Johor Branch chairman Liew Toh Sen.

MIEA president Erick Kho said he expects the three-day event to draw between 15,000 and 18,000 visitors.

“Maspex Johor 2015 offers more choices of good value-for-money properties in mature locations in Iskandar Malaysia for both first-time affordable home buyers and prospective property investors,” Liew said.

“Visitors to the exhibition will have a busy time going through more than 6,000 properties valued at more than RM2.5 billion that are being offered for sale in the three-day event.”

The event will also feature seminars on the impact of the Goods and Services Tax on the property market, property hotspots and feng shui.

The exhibitors include real estate agencies, property services firms and financial institutions such as Malayan Banking Bhd, which is the main sponsor of the event.

One of the exhibitors is theedgeproperty.com, a new one-stop property portal by The Edge Media Group, which features news, listings, and a full range of analytical tools which include indicative valuations, past transactions, rental rates, trends, hotspots, and new project launches.

Singaporean billionaire entrepreneur and Valencia CF football club owner Peter Lim recently bought a 20% stake in theedgeproperty.com for an undisclosed consideration.

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