PETALING JAYA: Budget 2027 will be a policy-continuity budget for the property sector, rather than a reform budget, with the government’s role shifting from designing the framework to funding and executing it.
Apex Research said this in a report, adding that home ownership incentives and the Skim Jaminan Kredit Perumahan guarantee expansion should keep transaction volumes at the affordable and first-time-buyer end, reasonably supported.
The research firm told clients that the National Housing Policy’s move to locality- based affordability pricing is, in its view, a sensible correction that should reduce the mismatch between supply and actual demand that has weighed on parts of the market in prior cycles.
“We see the build-then-sell (BTS) transition as the item requiring closest monitoring: a well-calibrated phase-in with financing support would be a manageable adjustment for the larger, better-capitalised developers, but any acceleration without matching relief could disproportionately hit smaller and mid-sized players reliant on progressive billing, and would be a net negative for launch volumes across the sector in 2027 and 2028.”
A property analyst told StarBiz that he continues to be positive on the sector as he expects Budget 2027 to include supportive key measures.
Meanwhile, on Penang, Apex Research said it likes the setup for landbank-rich developers along and near the Mutiara Line corridor, since transit-oriented uplift in land values tends to be one of the more durable, multi-year demand drivers available to the sector, less exposed to the funding-structure risk inherent in BTS.
The research firm said E&O Bhd’s waterfront landbank at Seri Tanjung Pinang and Andaman Island gives it a slower-burning but sizeable beneficiary profile as island-wide connectivity improves, while Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd
’s property is better placed for a more direct, near-term uplift given its established presence closer to the transit corridor.
“Paramount Corp Bhd’s exposure is comparatively marginal, given its smaller Penang landbank, and we would treat it as a secondary beneficiary rather than a core reason to own the stock.
“Overall, we see Penang as a self-reinforcing theme that should keep building through 2027 regardless of what Budget 2027 itself contains, since the rail rollout, rather than fiscal policy, is the primary catalyst here,” Apex Research said.
On the minimum wage, it noted the current RM1,700 remains well below the RM3,100 “Living Wage” benchmark adopted by government-linked firms. “With the government seeking to narrow the structural wage gap, we expect Budget 2027 to potentially announce a revision to the minimum wage, with the new rate potentially falling within RM1,700 to RM2,000.”
For property, developer cost exposure runs mainly through administrative, sales and project-management staff, who are largely paid above minimum wage, it added. “The bigger risk is indirect, as higher contractor labour costs feed into tender prices and construction cost of sales with a lag, pressuring margins particularly on fixed-price build contracts after the wage revision.”
