More Than 25,000 Houses Left Unsold, Worth RM17.4 Billion

The Housing and Local Government Ministry revealed to the Dewan Rakyat today that the third quarter of 2023 saw a total of 25,311 houses worth RM17.4bil that were left unsold.

The figure was revealed from data released by the National Property Information Centre (Napic), which showed that 19.4% of 130,753 newly launched units across the country are left unsold.

According to a local news daily, Kuala Lumpur recorded over 19% of the total unsold properties which translates to over 3,100 unsold new properties.

However, the ministry did concur that the 2024 figures are still not around as Napic is still in the process of updating and reviewing the data.

The unsold and overhang property problem

Answering a question from P. Prabakaran (PH-Batu), who asked for figures of unsold houses in the country and Kuala Lumpur, the ministry also added that the housing industry is a very dynamic and competitive industry with many stakeholders from all walks of life.

However, this does not mean that the industry is free from issues, such as the problem of unsold units.

The ministry concluded that the issue is borne from the mismatch in the housing market which is caused by the gap between demand and supply of houses.

Unsold or overhang properties have long been a problem in Malaysia, and several solutions have been touted about to solve the issue.

Overhang properties are described as properties that are completed and ready for use, but remain unsold for nine months after its launch date.

Although Bank Negara Malaysia has stated that the situation has shown some improvement over the years, the number of unsold and overhang properties is still high.