If you are buying your first home in 2027, the Budget measure to read closely is the stamp duty exemption. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim proposed a full exemption on loan agreements and instruments of transfer for first homes priced up to RM500,000, and a partial exemption for first homes priced up to RM750,000, when he tabled Budget 2027 on 9 October 2026 (PMO Budget speech).
The dates matter. The relief applies to sale and purchase agreements executed from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2030. If your SPA is signed before that window, this Budget proposal does not automatically help you.
For buyers, the cleanest way to understand it is on the instrument of transfer, which is the stamp duty paid when ownership moves to you. Malaysia's usual tiered transfer duty is 1% on the first RM100,000, 2% on the next RM400,000 and 3% on the next RM500,000. Under the Budget proposal, a first home up to RM500,000 would pay zero transfer duty. A first home up to RM750,000 would get the first RM500,000 fully exempt, and the balance half exempt.
| First home price | Normal transfer duty | Budget 2027 transfer duty | Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| RM300,000 | RM5,000 | RM0 | RM5,000 |
| RM500,000 | RM9,000 | RM0 | RM9,000 |
| RM750,000 | RM16,500 | RM3,750 | RM12,750 |
That table covers transfer duty only. The Budget speech also names loan agreements, so the loan-document saving sits on top of this, but the amount depends on how much you borrow. A buyer taking a smaller loan saves less on the loan agreement than a buyer borrowing almost the full price.
The second practical measure is SJKP. The government says Syarikat Jaminan Kredit Perumahan will provide up to RM20,000,000,000 in housing financing guarantees for 80,000 first-time buyers, especially self-employed buyers without fixed income. A guarantee is not a cash grant and it does not make the monthly instalment disappear. Its point is to help a bank say yes to a borrower who can afford the instalment but has an income pattern that does not look tidy on paper.
Industry reaction is already pushing for a higher stamp-duty threshold. FMT reported REHDA's call for the relief to be reviewed for homes up to RM1,000,000, while The Star carried the core Budget measure for homes up to RM500,000 and RM750,000. That matters in Penang, the Klang Valley and Johor Bahru, where a practical family-sized first home often sits above RM500,000.
For now, the buyer's checklist is simple:
- Check whether this is genuinely your first residential property.
- Watch the SPA date, because the window starts on 1 January 2027.
- Ask your lawyer to separate transfer duty from loan agreement duty in the cost sheet.
- If your income is variable, ask the bank or mortgage broker whether SJKP is suitable before you pay a booking fee.
Sources: PMO Budget 2027 speech, The Star, FMT, SJKP.
