Still, the RTS will not make that big of an impact on property prices in the north of Singapore, as some believe, says Lee.
“We need to ask ourselves: Are you prepared, because of the RTS, to move to Johor and stay there and commute every day to Singapore?” he adds. “If we are not prepared to move to Johor, to stay and commute daily to Singapore to work, I will say that the demand for homes in the northern part should generally be stable.”
Should future generations be prepared to cross the border daily, that will shift supply-demand dynamics in the northern part of Singapore, says Lee. “It’s going to be very convenient, and the key thing here is convenience. People are now observing — at the end of the year, when we start RTS — how fast [it takes] in peak hour times for me to clear Woodlands into Johor… If you can clear it in 15 minutes, I will consider moving to Johor — the houses are cheaper!”
Retail ‘leakage’?
See also: Has landed housing found a ‘price floor’? Huttons director says no
Some 3%-4% of retail sales in Singapore is currently lost to locals spending in Johor Bahru (JB), says Tricia Song, CBRE’s head of research, Singapore and Southeast Asia.
Based on current spending habits and estimated RTS users, that “leakage” may rise to 4%-5% of retail sales, according to CBRE research.
That said, retail malls in the North, such as Frasers Centrepoint Trust’s Northpoint City, should still be supported by a growing catchment of residents in the area, adds Song on the same panel.
She points to recent Housing Board Build-To-Order (BTO) projects in the area, such as Woodlands North Coast (launched in February 2025) and Woodlands North Grove (launched in July 2025).
“This catchment will support the local malls in the North,” says Song. “So, I wouldn’t be super concerned about the competition from Johor, at least for now. In fact, some [Malaysians] might come over — with easier bilateral movement — to visit Marina Bay Sands.”
Marina South needs a school Speaking of Downtown Singapore, a separate question from the audience asked for the panellists’ views on the ongoing development of Marina South.
One Marina Gardens, an upcoming mixed-use development by Kingsford Development, is set to be the first residential project launched in the Marina South precinct in April 2029.
More than 16 plots are set to launch in the precinct, but One Marina Gardens features direct access to Marina South MRT Station.
Singapore buyers are not averse to living in a new area, says Hutton’s Lee. One Marina Gardens did very well on its first day, he adds — it sold 38% of its 937 units at its launch in April 2025, with indicative prices starting from $1.16 million for one-bedroom units.
That said, Marina South is a “very untested area”, says Lee. “To be very frank, if you are parents, you are [probably] looking very hard for a school [in the area], but the only thing you have there right now is a train station. But people believe in the execution plans of the government.”
Perhaps what the area needs is a wellknown school, says CBRE’s Song. “I think if there’s one thing the government can do — I would say, just put a branded school in Marina South; everything will change. Look at Tengah, right?”
Anglo-Chinese School (Primary) will move to Tengah and become a co-ed school from 2030, announced the Ministry of Education in 2023.
In jest, Huttons’ Lee suggests that Marina South could do with one addition: “Raffles!”
