MALAYSIA’s housing challenge is driven not just by affordability, but by a deeper mismatch between supply, demand and weak age-based housing data, the House was told.
Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Aiman Athirah Sabu said according to the National Property Information Centre, 32,801 completed residential units worth RM16.37bil remained unsold nationwide in the first quarter of the year.
She said nearly half of the unsold units – 15,401 homes or 46.9% – were priced at RM300,000 and below, showing that even low-cost housing was not fully absorbed by the market.
“The issue is not limited to affordable housing alone. More than 53% of unsold units are in the higher price category, reflecting a broader mismatch across market segments.”
Aiman Athirah said the situation highlighted a structural gap in Malaysia’s housing ecosystem, where supply did not fully align with location, income levels and buyer readiness.
She said Malaysia lacked comprehensive data on home ownership among those aged below 35, as official statistics are compiled by income groups rather than age or constituency.
“This limits our ability to precisely design targeted housing policies for young Malaysians,” she said.
However, she said 2024 data showed home ownership among lower-income households (D1 to D4 income groups) stood at 76.3%, indicating relatively high ownership rates within that segment.
She said efforts were underway to strengthen a national integrated housing data repository under the 13th Malaysia Plan to improve policy accuracy and better identify gaps in demand.
Future housing planning will focus on three key pillars: improving affordability access, strengthening financing systems, and reducing supply-demand mismatches across regions and price segments.
During the debate, MPs highlighted that while Malaysia’s overall home ownership rate remained relatively high, ownership among younger Malaysians continued to lag significantly, underscoring what they described as a growing generational gap in housing access.
“The upcoming National Housing Policy will place stronger emphasis on data-driven planning, housing inclusivity and aligning supply with real demographic needs under the Madani framework,” Aiman Athirah responded.
