REHDA's latest survey lands on a blunt point: Malaysia's unsold-home problem is now as much about financing as it is about sticker prices.
Rummah News' view is that this matters because the industry is no longer only asking Putrajaya for demand stimulus. It is also asking for a different way to qualify buyers who can service monthly repayments but struggle with deposits, stamp duty and conventional lending checks.
At a media briefing in Kuala Lumpur on 23 September 2026, REHDA said its Property Industry Survey for 1H2026 and Market Outlook for 2H2026 and 1H2027 covered 181 members in Peninsular Malaysia. EdgeProp reported that 59% of respondents had unsold completed residential units as at 30 June 2026, with loan rejections, property prices and unreleased Bumiputera units cited as the main causes.
The sales picture was not a collapse. REHDA's survey recorded 15,834 launches in 1H2026, almost flat against 15,841 units in 2H2025. Sales rose to 5,260 units from 5,098 units, taking the reported take-up rate to 33.2% from 32.2%. The problem is that completed stock is still sitting on balance sheets while buyers get filtered out at the financing stage.
That is why REHDA's Budget 2027 wishlist is aimed at credit access. Bernama reported that the association has proposed enhancing the Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme, extending stamp duty relief for residential properties priced above RM500,000 and up to RM1,000,000 for purchases made between January and December 2027, and introducing a special Home Ownership Campaign for completed unsold homes.
REHDA president Datuk Zaini Yusoff said the proposals had been submitted to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government and the Ministry of Finance. He told the briefing that access to housing finance remains a major barrier for young Malaysians, self-employed buyers and purchasers with low or non-traditional incomes.
The useful test for Budget 2027 is therefore simple. A housing measure that only discounts the front page price may move some stock. A measure that helps banks underwrite real repayment ability without hiding risk would matter more to buyers who are already near the door but cannot get through it.
