The Expat’s Guide To MM2H In Johor (2025)
Johor easily has the most confusing Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) property rules, with both the cheapest and among the priciest entry points in the whole country!
Unfortunately, information is very scattered, forcing buyers to piece together bits and pieces from various forums, agents, and developers.
To help, we’ve consolidated available information into what is probably the most complete guide to foreign property purchase prices across Johor and how they are affected by MM2H.
Here’s how we’ve broken it down:
- a quick recap of MM2H property purchase requirements by tier
- four areas in Johor with different foreign home sale prices
- how Johor prices compare to Kuala Lumpur and Penang
Note: This guide focuses exclusively on state home purchase values, so if you’re unfamiliar with MM2H as a whole, start with our overall guide to MM2H so this will really make sense!
You’re welcome, and let’s begin!
MM2H property purchase recap
We cover in our MM2H property purchase guide, but briefly, MM2H has four tiers called Silver, Platinum, Gold, and Special Economic Zone (SEZ), which all require buying a home.
The first three have mandatory minimum property values across Malaysia:
- Silver: RM600,000
- Gold:RM1,000,000
- Platinum: RM2,000,000
- SEZ: Price set by the state where the SEZ is located
The key rule: When both MM2H and the state sets a minimum price, the higher the two will apply to your home purchase.
Johor’s four property ‘zones’
There are four areas in Johor with different minimum home purchase prices for foreigners:
- International zones
- Non-international zones
- Medini Iskandar
- Forest City SEZ
Price can also depend on if the home is landed or multifamily (strata), and the table below shows normal rates and how they are affected by MM2H.
| Area | Minimum Purchase Price | With MM2H |
| International Zone | RM 2 million (landed) RM 1 million (strata) | RM 1 million |
| Medini Iskandar | No minimum | RM600,000 |
| SEZ (Forest City) | RM 500,000 | RM 500,000 |
| Non-international Zone | RM 1 million (all properties) | RM 1 million |
Now let’s briefly look at each of these areas to provide context and understand how they fit into the MM2H programme.
International zone
These are nine designated growth areas in Johor designed to attract foreign investment either through manufacturing, business, or tourism:
- Johor Bahru
- Iskandar Puteri (special case for Medini Iskandar)
- Tanjung Pelepas
- Tanjung Langsat
- Senai–Skudai
- Kulai–Sedenak
- Desaru–Penawar
- Forest City (special case)
- Pengerang
Though not equally, all are relatively well-developed and expat-friendly, and the preferential MM2H property price is meant to incentivise those already considering a home in the area.
Medini Iskandar
Iskandar Puteri is the administrative capital of Johor, and Medini Iskandar is its main city.
As a result, Iskandar Puteri is very well-developed, and Medini specifically is located very close to Singapore and is the only area in Johor without a state-set minimum home purchase price for foreigners.
Note: Even with no state minimum, MM2H itself still imposes a minimum price, which means the effective minimum is RM600,000 under the Silver Tier.
Forest City SEZ
Forest City is also in Iskandar Puteri, and is currently the ONLY spot with SEZ-designated residences in Malaysia, meaning the state sets home sale prices for MM2H applicants.
As of 2025, foreigners are allowed to buy properties from as low as RM500,000, making it the cheapest option by a considerable margin.
Of course, it doesn’t mean you can buy a castle for that price, but you have some wiggle room.
The main limitation is this only applies to Forest City unless other developments are given SEZ status, and as our crystal ball is broken, we dare not make any predictions!
Non-international zone
This refers to any area in Johor outside international zones, Medini Iskandar, and Forest City.
Here, the minimum foreign purchase price is set at RM1 million across all property types.
The reason is clear–locals don’t want expats moving in and driving prices up, and expats generally won’t want to live here anyways.
So a win-win!
Takeaways for MM2H property purchase
Depending on your priority, here’s where we believe your best choice for an MM2H property lies:
- Budget: Forest City
- Location: International Zones (Johor Bahru, Iskandar Puteri, Desaru)
- Balance: Medini Iskandar
We’re going to pretend the non-international zones don’t exist, since the existence of Medini Iskandar makes them redundant for everyone except international fugitives 🙂
Johor versus other top states
When we compare state minimum home purchase prices for foreigners with and without MM2H, it becomes blatantly obvious which state really wants to attract MM2H expats.
| State | Normal Minimum Home Purchase Price | With MM2H |
| Johor | RM 0 – 2 million | RM 500,000 – RM 1 million |
| Penang Island | RM 1 – 3 million | RM 500,000 |
| Kuala Lumpur | RM 1 million | RM 1 million |
| Selangor | RM 2 million (Zones 1 & 2) RM 1 million (Zone 3) | RM 2 million (Zones 1 & 2) RM 1 million (Zone 3) |
Kuala Lumpur and Selangor clearly hold firm at the higher end.
Meanwhile, Penang clearly wants MM2H buyers, but with an SEZ development, Johor still offers a better option for the budget-conscious expat.
Of course, these are all just numbers; the best thing you can do is to speak to an MM2H agent.
We hope our guide has armed you with better clarity on where to take your MM2H journey.
That’s it from us–all the best and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have questions!
Let MISHU help with your Johor MM2H application
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