Malaysia wants wealthy Hong Kong, mainland China investors to absorb US$8.9 billion residential property market oversupply

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Malaysia is seeking to avert a housing market crisis by luring foreign buyers to its rising stock of unsold homes, targeting wealthy mainland Chinese and Hong Kong residents with fast-track residency visas.

The Southeast Asian country this month lowered the threshold for overseas buyers of residential property to 600,000 ringgit (US$143,453.5) and above, from 1 million ringgit previously. The easing, which takes effect for 12 months from January 2020, is likely to whet an appetite among Hong Kong investors seeking safe havens after months of anti-government protests.