The sharp number in Penang's first-half property data is 79.9%. That is how much new residential launch volume rose in 1H 2026, even as the state's overall property transactions moved the other way.
NAPIC's Property Market Status Report H1 2026, as summarised by Penang Property Talk, shows total Penang property transactions falling 9.9% year-on-year to 9,960 in the first half of 2026. The total value slipped 3.6% to RM6.76 billion.
The residential segment carried most of the activity: 6,979 transactions worth RM3.19 billion. That was a 13.1% drop in volume and an 11% fall in value from the first half of 2025. In other words, the state's housing market was not short of supply headlines, but buyers were transacting more slowly.
The launch side tells the more awkward story for developers. Penang recorded 2,878 newly launched residential units in 1H 2026, up from 1,600 units a year earlier. Only 283 of those units were recorded as sold within the period, for a 9.8% sales performance.
The arithmetic is simple enough: 283 sales against 2,878 launched units means about nine in every 10 newly launched homes were still unsold within the half-year reporting window. That does not mean every project is weak. It does mean buyers had more fresh supply to choose from while the completed-stock backlog was still rising.
NAPIC's figures put Penang's completed unsold residential stock at 3,114 units as at 1H 2026, up 12.2% from the previous half-year. Unsold units under construction stood at 7,100, down from 7,826 in H2 2025, while 135 units were classified as unsold but not yet constructed.
Prices, however, did not show the same movement as volumes. The Penang House Price Index rose 0.2% year-on-year in Q2 2026P, with the average house price moving from RM502,403 in Q2 2025 to RM503,388. Penang also remained the Northern Region state with the highest average house price.
For buyers, the data points to a market where headline stability in prices sits beside slower transaction activity and a larger choice of new launches. For developers and agents, the issue is not simply whether Penang demand exists. It is whether the price band, location and product type match the buyers still willing and able to transact.
Sources: NAPIC Property Market Status Report H1 2026, Penang Property Talk.
