Malaysia's property market in H1 2026: what the data actually shows

Malaysia recorded 187,320 property transactions worth RM105.12 billion nationally in the first half of 2026, according to figures from the National Property Information Centre (NAPIC) reported in the press. Residential properties made up the bulk of that activity — 110,998 transactions, or 59.3% of the total. At the same time, the residential overhang (completed units sitting unsold) rose for a sixth consecutive quarter. Both things are true at once, and the detail matters more than either headline on its own.

Transaction activity: broadly stable

H1 2026's 187,320 transactions and RM105.12 billion in value point to a market that's still transacting at volume, not one that's stalled. Separately, Q1 2026 alone saw 89,966 transactions worth RM51.09 billion — transaction volume was down roughly 8% year-on-year in that quarter even as value held close to flat, suggesting more deals are happening at the lower end of the price scale rather than activity drying up across the board.

The overhang: rising, and concentrated

The residential overhang — completed units unsold for nine months or more — rose 7.6% quarter-on-quarter heading into H1 2026, the sixth straight quarterly increase, even as the total value of that unsold stock fell, meaning the units piling up skew toward cheaper ones. By state, Perak carries the largest overhang by unit count (4,063 units), followed by Johor (3,852), Selangor (3,745), Kuala Lumpur (3,733) and Penang (3,165). Nationally, condominiums and apartments account for more than 60% of the unsold residential stock — landed housing is not where this problem sits.

The mismatch: where buyers are active vs. where supply is stuck

Here's the part that matters most for a buyer: in Q1 2026, homes priced at RM300,000 and below were the single most active price band, accounting for 27,209 transactions — more than half of all residential deals that quarter. That's also the segment where overhang is accumulating fastest. Buyer demand and unsold supply are clustering in the same price band, which means the overhang isn't evidence that Malaysians have stopped buying — it's evidence that specific projects, locations and developers aren't matching what buyers in that price band actually want, while others in the exact same band are selling through fine.

What this means if you're buying a new launch now

Overhang is a completed-unit problem — it doesn't directly describe a project that's still under construction or newly launched, which is most of what's indexed on PropertyIndexMY. But it's still a useful filter: before committing to a new launch, it's worth checking how comparable completed projects from the same developer, or in the same immediate area, have actually sold down. A developer or location with a track record of clearing completed stock is a meaningfully different bet from one sitting on years of unsold inventory, even if both are launching something new today. Our area guides and individual project pages are built to give you that context rather than just a floor plan and a price.

The rate environment isn't the obstacle here

It's tempting to blame a soft segment on financing costs, but Bank Negara has held the OPR at 2.75% through September 2026 with most economists expecting it to stay there for the rest of the year — see our OPR explainer. Financing conditions are stable, not tightening. The overhang concentrated in specific states and price bands looks more like a supply-location mismatch than a rate-driven affordability problem.

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