That said, at least one hurdle to investing has been substantially diminished — scepticism that the project will take off at all.

Singapore-born Yew Khim grew up in Vancouver, Canada, and studied Computer Science at the University of British Columbia. Having worked in Singapore and Canada, he has 15 years of experience in the property development and investment sector.

TWO years ago, Singaporean David Neubronner moved into his new home at Straits View Residences, a gated landed housing community located in the Permas Jaya housing estate of Johor Bahru. He bought the four-bedroom, semi-detached house from Malaysian property group BRDB Developments when the project was launched in Singapore in 2010. The double-storey house has a built-up area of 3,000 sq ft and sits on a freehold land area of 6,000 sq ft.

Henry Butcher (M) Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Tang Chee Meng told TheEdgeProperty.com that the HSR is “definitely” a catalyst for the property market in the areas where the stations are located.

PETALING JAYA (Aug 9): While fewer launches of high-rise homes in Johor Bahru are planned this year, the market will still need time to digest its existing and incoming supply of high-rise homes, said Knight Frank Malaysia in its latest property market report.

IOI Properties Group Bhd (Aug 4, RM2.40)

“Imagine the convenience residents will be able to enjoy from the connectivity provided by the HSR project connecting two countries in just 90 minutes. Have you sat on the Eurostar express train? Just imagine, you only need 2.5 hours to travel from downtown London to downtown Paris with each country’s immigration counters just 100m away from each other,” he told TheEdgeProperty.com.

MALAYSIAN Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), which is a unit of the Prime Minister’s Department, is in the midst of preparing a White Paper on how local rail companies can benefit from the large number of rail-related jobs being dished out and participate in the projects.

THERE are still many details of the KL-Singapore high-speed rail project that need ironing out before the bilateral agreement is signed at the end of the year. But the memorandum of understanding signed last week shows that both the Malaysian and Singapore governments are now on the same page and more committed than ever to the project.

PETALING JAYA (July 26): Following the recent signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high speed rail (KL-SG HSR) by both the Malaysian and Singaporean governments, MyHSR Corp Sdn Bhd (MyHSR) has selected CH2M as its technical advisor for the landmark cross-border project.