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Buying · 5 min read

Unsold flats: will yours rent?

NAPIC counted 10,329 serviced apartments and SOHOs in Johor built but unsold at 30 Jun 2026, about 9 in every 100 built. That counts flats no one bought, not flats no one lives in, and we think the 50,198 still being built matter more.

By · Editor, Straight Answers · First published · Facts checked

2 dark green condo towers. The finished one on the left has a few small gold price tags hanging from its windows. The one on the right is still being built, its top floors in gold scaffolding, with a gold crane lifting a concrete slab.

In short

  • Unsold isn't empty. NAPIC counts flats no one bought, not flats that sit empty.
  • Serviced apartments alone: about 9 in 100 built in Johor were unsold at 30 Jun 2026, against about 5 in 100 across Malaysia.
  • For every 100 built, 44 more were being built, and that count can include stalled sites. Those could be your next rivals.
In this article

You've heard it at a kopitiam or in a WhatsApp group: JB is full of empty flats. Then a number goes round, and it sounds huge.

This guide is for owners and buyers of serviced apartments in Johor Bahru. The numbers are for all of Johor.

Johor's serviced apartments and SOHOs at a glance
Built113,528 units
Of those, unsold10,329, about 9 in 100. Unsold, not empty
Being built50,198, 44 for every 100 built. Can include stalled sites
Approved, not started34,072. Some may never be built

NAPIC, Southern Region report H1 2026, at 30 Jun 2026. Whole state of Johor, not 1 building.

Does unsold mean empty? Try 2 quick questions

All of Johor, shrunk to 100 windows

1. Guess: of every 100 serviced apartments and SOHOs built in Johor, how many were unsold?

About 9. 10,329 of 113,528, at 30 Jun 2026.

2. So are those 9 empty?

Not always. A developer can rent out flats it hasn't sold. And a sold flat can sit empty.

About 9 in 100 were unsold. That doesn't mean 9 in 100 were empty.

100 windows stand for Johor's 113,528 serviced apartments and SOHOs; about 9 in 100 (10,329) were unsold at 30 Jun 2026. Where the tags sit is made up: NAPIC gives the state total, not buildings. Source: NAPIC, H1 2026.

NAPIC is the government's property data centre. Its report on southern Malaysia for the first half of 2026 counted 10,329 unsold serviced apartments and SOHOs in Johor.

A serviced apartment here is a condo-style flat that NAPIC counts as business property, not a home. A SOHO is a small office you can also live in. That report counts the 2 together.

So the count tells you about sales. It tells you nothing about who sleeps there.

Serviced apartments alone were 9,946, more than any other state. Because NAPIC files them as business property, they're left out of Johor's 4,222 unsold homes. Serviced apartments are more than twice that.

Is JB oversupplied? Put 10,329 next to what's built

10,329 unsold divided by 113,528 built equals about 9.1%

Is 9 a lot? Across Malaysia, about 5 in 100 serviced apartments were unsold: 23,375 of 495,884.

Johor's serviced apartments alone were about 9 in 100: 9,946 of 110,600. That's nearly twice the country's share.

That's the whole state, not your building. Your block could have none unsold, or many.

Johor, unsold serviced apartments and SOHOs

Down for a year, then up again

  1. 12,963Mid 2024
  2. 11,007End 2024
  3. 9,701Mid 2025
  4. 9,854End 2025
  5. 10,329Mid 2026

Mid 2026 was 20% lower than mid 2024, but 5% higher than half a year before.

Built, launched and still unsold over 9 months after the first sale in the project, at the end of each half-year. Source: NAPIC, Southern Region report H1 2026.

The count has gone both ways. It fell for a year, from 12,963 in mid 2024 to 9,701 in mid 2025. Then it rose 2 half-years in a row, to 10,329.

Will new blocks steal your guests or tenants?

The unsold flats are already here. The bigger change is what comes next.

Johor, serviced apartments and SOHOs

For every 100 built, 44 more being built

Built100

113,528 units. The 9 with a gold edge were unsold. Who lives in any of them isn't counted.

Being built44

50,198 units, sold and unsold. Can include stalled sites: no work for over 3 years since approval. NAPIC's total gives no finish dates.

Approved, not started30

34,072 units with building plans approved. Some may never be built.

Each square is about 1,135 units, so 100 squares = all 113,528 built. Whole state, at 30 Jun 2026. Source: NAPIC, Southern Region report H1 2026.

For every 100 serviced apartments and SOHOs built in Johor, 44 more were being built at 30 Jun 2026. That's 50,198 units, sold and unsold.

It can even include delayed sites: approved over 3 years ago, foundations started, then no more work. So some may open late, and some may never open. NAPIC's total doesn't say when any will finish.

Another 34,072 had building plans approved but no work started. Some of those may never be built.

We think the new blocks that matter to you are the ones like yours. Same area, same price, same kind of guest or tenant.

A new block across the state is unlikely to take your guest. One across the road might.

Rent monthly? Weekday nights matter less to you, but the blocks being built nearby still do.

Will your JB home fill on weekdays? Here's where gaps hide

State totals can't tell you which nights your home will fill. Here's 1 small, real example of why that matters.

We looked at the 13 homes RoomGuru managed in Johor Bahru all year, 1 Oct 2025 to 30 Sep 2026. They were booked 79.5% of the nights they were open, as our occupancy guide shows.

Now count every night of the year, including nights owners blocked.

On a Sunday to Thursday night, more than 1 in 4 of our homes had no guest. On a Friday, about 1 in 10. On a Saturday, about 1 in 30.

Our 13 homes: 100 empty nights

Where the empty nights fell

Spread evenly, each night would get about 14. Sunday to Thursday got 17 to 20 each; Friday got 6, Saturday 2.

Our 13 homes in Johor Bahru, 1 Oct 2025 to 30 Sep 2026: 1,043 nights with no guest, scaled to 100 dots. Fri means Friday night. These count blocked nights too. Counting only nights that were open, Sunday to Thursday held 93% of the empty ones.

We think new blocks could press on weekdays first. That's where the empty nights already are.

Our guess: many of our guests come from Singapore for the weekend, so weekends fill first. We can't prove why from booking data.

These are homes we manage, and we earn a fee from them. They're 13 homes, not all of JB.

Buying a JB home? Check who would rent it

The state numbers can't judge your building. Your own checks can. Tick what you already know:

Check your own building

What do you know, and what's left to ask?

  1. How will you use the home?

    Keeping weekends for yourself leaves only weekday guests.

  2. Real rents in this building

    Paid rents, not an agent's asking price.

  3. Similar blocks being built nearby

    Same area, same price, same kind of guest.

  4. Who'd stay on weekdays

    Weekdays are where the empty nights hide.

  5. Short stays allowed in the building

    House rules from the management office, in writing.

Answer each check to get your list of questions.

A checklist, not a score. NAPIC's numbers are for all of Johor, so only your own checks can judge your building.

Buying from Singapore? Our guide for Singaporean buyers covers the costs and rules first.

A full calendar isn't the goal either: you can fill every night and still earn less. Our guide to 4 numbers every owner should know shows why.

How we know this

  • The NAPIC numbers: we read NAPIC's Property Market Report H1 2026 and its Southern Region report in full on 29 Oct 2026. Built, being built, planned and the trend come from the Southern Region report. The split of 9,946 serviced apartments and 383 SOHOs, Johor's 4,222 unsold homes and the Malaysia totals come from the national report.
  • What NAPIC's words mean: "being built" is its incoming supply, which includes delayed sites. "Planned" is its planned supply: plans approved, no work started. "Unsold" is its unsold completed count.
  • Our homes: every night a guest stayed on the 13 homes we managed all year, 1 Oct 2025 to 30 Sep 2026. Stays came from Airbnb, Booking.com, Agoda and direct bookings, with cancelled stays left out.
  • The weekday share: counted by every night of the year, 91.7% of empty nights were Sunday to Thursday. Leaving out blocked nights, it was 93%. The per-night rates count every night.
  • Our stake: we manage short-stay homes in JB, so we gain if you hire a manager. We also sell property, including units at Bodaiju Residences in Medini, Johor, so we gain if you buy there. That's why we name no project for you to buy, and show our weekday gaps too.

Questions owners ask

Is "overhang" the same as unsold?

Close, but not quite. NAPIC's overhang counts built units unsold 9 months after launch. This post uses its unsold count, which starts the clock at the first sale.

Can a SOHO be used for Airbnb?

It depends on your building. Check your title and your building's house rules with the management office before you take a booking.

Will the RTS Link change these numbers?

Nobody can say yet. The train is expected to open in February 2027, and NAPIC's count is from 30 Jun 2026. Our RTS Link guide shows what sales near the line did so far.

Sources: All supply and unsold counts are for Johor state at 30 Jun 2026 (unless a chart gives another date), from NAPIC's Property Market Report H1 2026 and its Southern Region report. NAPIC is the National Property Information Centre, part of the government's valuation department (JPPH). Our own figures are in How we know this. Simon runs RoomGuru, which has managed homes in Johor Bahru on Airbnb since 2023. This is general information, not financial advice.