Skycrasper

 

Muhammad Najib Razali, a professor of real estate at Malaysia Technology University, has conducted extensive research on urban planning and real estate in Johor Bahru. I met him in Forest City and asked him why the development was so empty. "The main reason is that the apartments are expensive — they are unaffordable for locals," he said. The median annual salary in Malaysia was 24,744 Malaysia ringgit (around $5,651) in 2020. As for foreign buyers, there's another obstacle keeping them from snapping up property. "We spoke to the developer and they told us that its main target buyers are Singaporeans and foreigners," Najib said. But Singaporeans have been dissuaded by the number of failed projects in Malaysia, he continued. In 2021, there were 79 abandoned housing projects in the country. While Forest City continues to be a development in progress, its reputation as a ghost town does not help its bid to attract global buyers. "The property has failed to attract Singaporeans, who prefer to look and see the properties in person first before buying," he said. Country Garden, for its part, believes the development will thrive in the future — though it acknowledges that future may not be a near one. "As the economic activities resume and travel bans are lifted, we are looking forward to Forest City to thrive again," the company told me in an email. "The process will definitely take some time and not by immediate effect." https://www.businessinsider.com/ghost-town-malaysia-forest-city-china-developer-estate-photos-2022-6