Identifying Housing Submarkets in Johor Bahru and Kulai, Malaysia: A Data-Driven Method

Abstract Generally, housing within the same area tends to share similar structural and locational characteristics as well as being characterized by the same homebuyers’ preferences. This information provides insight on the existence of housing submarkets. Thus, this study aims to identify the existence of housing submarkets in Johor Bahru and Kulai, Malaysia through principal component analysis and cluster analysis. A total of 29 housing attributes were included in the study. The results from the principal component analysis have successfully identified four principal components that represent the basic facility, main infrastructure, less common facility and housing quality characteristics. On the other hand, cluster analysis managed to identify the existence of four housing submarkets in Johor Bahru and Kulai, where three submarkets showed the characteristics of housing quality, whereas one submarket appeared to exhibit the characteristic of main infrastructure. The findings of this study provide valuable information on the existence of four housing submarkets in Johor Bahru and Kulai areas, which will benefit the city governments, real estate developers, mortgage lenders, non-profit organizations, as well as individual homeowners in making critical choices and developing market-appropriate strategies.