There are those days when Medini, situated in the south of Johor, was desired by foreign investors because it is a special economic zone and has a link with Singapore. There were days when there are long queues outside property galleries, and there are tents to cater crowd of people who wants to own a piece of Medini.
Image Credit: malaysiapropertyiskandar.com
But it’s beginning to lose its gleam because of some hindrances like (1) Johor increased its fee for foreign-registered vehicles entering the state, (2) Johor also increased the threshold for foreign property purchases from RM500,000 to RM1 million, and (3) There is an upcoming supply of residential properties. And the question goes like this, Is Medini still a feasible option for investment? Here are four different perspectives about Medini that sought to answer the question.
1. Medini as a Planned City
For those who didn’t know, Medini is a planned city. In contrast with Johor Bahru which is a grown city. It is easier to live in planned cities compare to grown cities, but growing cities have culture, vibrancy, and rich in history. Medini is situated in the heart of Iskandar Puteri and is a greenfield land shape by city planners. Some still choose to live in grown cities and it is harder to attract people to live in planned cities. Medini is a well-organized city while Johor Bahru is not-so-organized. Medini has a good infrastructure and is quiet at night while Johor Bahru has history and soul and is alive at night. Make your choice.
2. Medini has a traveling distance of 18.1 km from Singapore
That travel distance will just take 20 minutes (under normal traffic conditions), while the looming Coastal Highway Southern Link (CHSL) will lessen 10 km to that 18.1 km., while Johor to Singapore, if by public buses, will take three hours to cross the border, because there are checkpoint queues and you have to reboard a new bus. So for Medini to attract a sizable population, it needs to look for a solution to cross-border congestion, travelling distance from Medini to Singapore is short, the travelling time is not.
3. Is Medini a place to Stay or Work?
The land use intensity for residential is 14.59% while the land use intensity for commercial is at 29.51%. That only means there will be more commercial space rather than residential space. Medini is designed as the CBD (Central Business District) of Iskandar Puteri, so, we can say that Medini aside from it is a place to stay, it is also a place to work.
4. Medini has a “The Logical Location”
A logical location for Singaporean businesses to expand its operations is in Johor, it is because it is a great place to enjoy a better quality of life at a lower cost. Singapore is known to be the most expensive city to live in the world (according to research by the Economist Intelligence Unit). While it takes ⅓ of that cost in Singapore to live in Johor. Even cynics will say that Johor holds great potential. The only problem is the timing of investment. No one knows when will be the next boom, and when will the investors catch the upturn.
Medini has the capacity to attract sizable population if its succeed in flourishing its commercial and recreational activities and the biggest solution for the cross-border congestion is the looming High-Speed Rail (HSR) connecting Kuala Lumpur to Singapore.
This article was originally published on propertygeek.my on 4 April 2016
