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Buying Guide · Stage 1: Before you book

Should You Wait for Budget 2027 Before Buying a House in Malaysia?

Budget 2027 Malaysia is tabled on Friday 9 October 2026. It has not been tabled yet, so nothing on this page is a “Budget 2027 incentive”. The direct answer is that waiting buys you nothing specific. The two reliefs a first-home buyer actually holds — the first-home stamp duty exemption and the housing-loan interest deduction under section 46B of the Income Tax Act 1967 — both already run to an SPA executed on or before 31 December 2027, and neither needs Budget 2027 to survive. Nothing a buyer holds expires on 31 December 2026. This page keeps three things strictly apart: [IN FORCE] what the law already gives you, [ASKED FOR] what the developers’ association has requested, and [NOT ANNOUNCED] what nobody has announced at all. It also corrects something many buyers still believe: the 75% exemption for homes from RM500,001 to RM1 million lapsed on 31 December 2023. Verified as at 1 October 2026.

Tabled 9 October 2026First-home exemption to 31 Dec 2027s.46B: RM7,000 / RM5,00075% tier lapsed end-2023As at 1 Oct 2026Verified 2026-09-20
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Part ofBuying new propertyBuying subsale propertyStage 1 · Before you book
By Louis Koh · 11 years in Malaysian propertyVerified: 2026-09-2014 min read📞 +60 10-906 6685

Short answer

No, waiting buys you nothing specific. Budget 2027 is tabled on 9 October 2026, but the two reliefs a first-home buyer holds already run to the end of 2027: the 100% first-home stamp duty exemption on a property not exceeding RM500,000, conditioned on an SPA executed by 31 December 2027, and the section 46B housing-loan interest deduction of RM7,000 or RM5,000 a year for three consecutive basis years, on the same SPA window. Nothing a buyer holds expires on 31 December 2026.

Key numbers at a glance

Budget 2027 tabling dateFriday 9 October 2026
First-home stamp duty exemption100% on MOT and loan agreement, price ≤ RM500,000
Instrument and deadlineP.U.(A) 53/2021 and 54/2021, as amended by 448/2025 and 449/2025; SPA to 31 Dec 2027
75% exemption, RM500,001–RM1mLapsed 31 Dec 2023; no extension gazetted
Foreign-buyer MOT8% flat residential (from 1 Jan 2026), 4% non-residential; no expiry
Housing loan interest deductions.46B ITA 1967: RM7,000 (≤RM500k) / RM5,000 (RM500,001–750,000), three consecutive basis years
SJKP / HCGS loan guaranteeRM20 billion, around 80,000 buyers; live, no published end date
Rehda's eight asksStated 23 Sep 2026; none granted as at 1 Oct 2026

Key points in 30 seconds

  • Both live reliefs already run to the end of 2027. The 100% first-home stamp duty exemption (MOT and loan agreement, price not exceeding RM500,000) and the section 46B interest deduction are both conditioned on an SPA executed on or before 31 December 2027. Nothing a buyer holds expires at the end of 2026.
  • The exemption window is 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2027 — it did not start in 2026. Budget 2026 extended the end date of an existing scheme by two years; it did not restart the window. A buyer who signed in 2023 or 2024 and is still completing is inside the orders.
  • The 75% tier for RM500,001–RM1,000,000 is gone. It ended with the Home Ownership Programme 2022/2023 on 31 December 2023 and no extension has been gazetted. A RM600,000 first home today pays full duty.
  • The foreign-buyer residential MOT rate is a flat 8% from 1 January 2026, under Item 32(ab) of the First Schedule to the Stamp Act 1949, with non-residential at 4%. It is not a “4%–8% sliding scale”, and no one has signalled a reduction.
  • Rehda’s eight Budget 2027 asks, stated on 23 September 2026, include extending stamp duty relief to homes above RM500,000 up to RM1 million. Those are requests, not policy. As at 1 October 2026 that relief does not exist.
  • The cost of waiting is concrete. Budget tax measures usually bite on the following 1 January or year of assessment, and only after a Finance Act or a gazetted P.U.(A) order. Some announcements never arrive: Budget 2024 promised to cut the en-bloc consent threshold “from 100% to international standards”, and three years later not a word has changed.

Should you wait for Budget 2027? The direct answer

Waiting buys you nothing specific. Budget 2027 is tabled on 9 October 2026, a date stated in the Ministry of Finance’s own Pre-Budget Statement 2027 of 18 August 2026. But the two reliefs a first-home buyer currently holds are both conditioned on an SPA executed on or before 31 December 2027 — they already cover the whole of 2027 and need no new Budget to survive. Nothing a buyer holds expires on 31 December 2026.

And the Pre-Budget Statement gave housing a question mark, not a promise. Housing appears four times in it and no measure is announced: once as a consultation question (“What measures can improve the affordability of owning or renting a home, strengthen public transport and enhance urban liveability?”), once as a development priority (“improving the affordability of home ownership and rental”), once as 50 acres at Bandar Malaysia reserved as Malay Reserve Land for development including affordable housing, and once looking backwards, listing the existing first-home stamp duty exemption among M40 reliefs already given. The ten focus areas published by MOF do not include housing as a named pillar.

Louis’s note: I will not tell you to rush before the incentives expire, because they are not expiring. I will not tell you to wait either, because there is nothing specific to wait for. The useful thing to do is the other one: work out the cash you actually need at today’s rates for your price band, then decide on timing. Use the buying-costs calculator, or see the upfront cost budget for buying a home.

[IN FORCE] What a 2027 buyer already has, with the instrument and the expiry

This table is the spine of the page. Every row carries a legal instrument and an expiry date — that is the only way to tell an incentive from a news story.

Already in force for a 2027 purchase (as at 1 October 2026)
MeasureFigureLegal instrumentRuns until
First-home stamp duty exemption — instrument of transfer (MOT)100%, price not exceeding RM500,000Stamp Duty (Exemption) Order 2021 [P.U.(A) 53/2021], as amended by P.U.(A) 448/2025SPA executed on or before 31 December 2027
First-home stamp duty exemption — loan agreement100%, price not exceeding RM500,000Stamp Duty (Exemption) (No. 2) Order 2021 [P.U.(A) 54/2021], as amended by P.U.(A) 449/2025SPA executed on or before 31 December 2027
75% exemption, RM500,001–RM1,000,000Lapsed — not availableP.U.(A) 179/2023 and 180/2023Ended 31 December 2023
Foreign-buyer MOT rate, residential8% flatItem 32(ab), First Schedule, Stamp Act 1949, inserted by the Finance Act 2025No expiry — permanent until changed
Foreign-buyer MOT rate, non-residential4% flatItem 32(aa), First Schedule, Stamp Act 1949No expiry
Loan guarantee — SJKP / Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme (HCGS)RM20 billion (up from RM10bn), around 80,000 buyersBudget 2026 measure, administered by SJKPLive; no published end date
Housing loan interest deduction, first homeRM7,000 a year (price ≤ RM500,000) or RM5,000 a year (RM500,001–RM750,000), for three consecutive basis yearsNew section 46B, Income Tax Act 1967, inserted by the Finance Act 2024 [Act 862]SPA executed 1 January 2025 – 31 December 2027; from YA 2025
Citizen / PR ad valorem MOT scale1% / 2% / 3% / 4% by bandFirst Schedule, Stamp Act 1949Unchanged in 2026
Loan agreement duty (all buyers)0.5% of the loanItem 27(a), First Schedule, Stamp Act 1949Unchanged

The first-home stamp duty exemption: the window is 2021 to 2027

  • 100% exemption on both the MOT and the loan or financing agreement, for one first residential property valued not exceeding RM500,000.
  • SPA window: executed on or after 1 January 2021 and not later than 31 December 2027. Budget 2026 extended the end date of an existing scheme by two years; it did not restart the window on 1 January 2026.
  • Conditions: Malaysian citizen individual; the purchaser and any co-purchaser has never owned any residential property anywhere in Malaysia, including an inherited or gifted one, held individually or jointly; the property is a house, condominium, apartment or flat bought solely as a dwelling house; one unit only; supported by a statutory declaration.
  • Eligible lenders for the loan-agreement limb: licensed banks, Islamic banks, development financial institutions, insurers, takaful operators, co-operative societies, employers offering housing loans, and Borneo Housing Mortgage Finance Bhd and Mutiara Mortgage & Credit Sdn Bhd.
  • It does not need Budget 2027. It already covers every SPA signed in 2027.
An honest footnote on sourcing. The strongest confirmation we have for the two amending orders (P.U.(A) 448/2025 and 449/2025) is Malaysian Bar Circular No. 128/2026 of 16 April 2026, which names them. We did not open the gazetted orders themselves — the AGC legislation portal was unreachable while this page was written — so the exact joint-purchase wording is not something we verified word for word. If you are buying jointly, have your conveyancer confirm in writing, before you sign, that both of you satisfy the never-owned-a-residential-property condition. For the duty itself see stamp duty and legal fees, and for the full set of first-timer incentives see first-time homebuyer incentives.

The section 46B deduction: three years from the first interest paid

It is a deduction under a new section 46B of the Income Tax Act 1967, inserted by section 10 of the Finance Act 2024 [Act 862] — not a new paragraph of section 46, and not merely a “tax relief” with no statutory home. The amounts, in the statutory wording: RM7,000 where the purchase price is not more than RM500,000, and RM5,000 where it is more than RM500,000 but not more than RM750,000. The duration is three consecutive basis years beginning from the basis year in which the interest is first expended — so the three years run from the first interest paid, not from the SPA and not from a fixed YA 2025 start.

  • SPA window, in the statutory wording: executed on or after 1 January 2025 but not later than 31 December 2027.
  • Commencement: section 10 of the Finance Act 2024 came into operation with that Act on 24 December 2024, applying from year of assessment 2025.
  • Conditions: first-time buyer; one property; the property must not generate income, so a unit you rent out is out; and above RM750,000 gets nothing.
  • This is the strongest “don’t wait” argument on the page: the deduction already covers an SPA signed at any point in 2027. A buyer who waits for Budget 2027 and then buys in 2027 gets exactly the same section 46B deduction as a buyer who signs next week.

Two more things a 2027 buyer will meet

  • Stamp duty self-assessment (STSDS) Phase 2 reaches property transfers on 1 January 2027. This is a compliance change, not a rate change: transfers of real property move to self-assessment through e-Duti Setem, with cases requiring a JPPH valuation excluded. It is already legislated and does not depend on Budget 2027 — but it means a 2027 buyer’s conveyancer will be filing differently from a 2026 buyer’s.
  • The SJKP / HCGS guarantee is not a loan and not a subsidy. It guarantees the lender, so a buyer without a conventional income record — gig workers, the self-employed, roughly RM1,000 to RM11,000 a month, homes up to RM500,000 — can be approved, with financing above 100% including costs; a separate HCGS-MADANI variant covers homes up to RM360,000. You still service the full loan. Also note that Skim Rumah Pertamaku was abolished with effect from 1 April 2023 and i-MILIKI has ended — any 2026 page listing SRP as open is wrong. For the rest, see affordable housing schemes 2026.
What waiting can cost you

The expensive mistake is not buying early — it is compressing your timing into the end of the window. Both reliefs are bounded by an SPA executed by 31 December 2027, and no extension beyond 2027 has been gazetted. Start looking only after 9 October and you squeeze searching, negotiating and loan approval into one window; if signing slips into 2028 you lose both the stamp duty exemption and the section 46B deduction. The second cost is directional: the Pre-Budget Statement announced no housing measure at all, so what you wait for may well be nothing.

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[LAPSED] The 75% exemption for RM500,001–RM1 million ended on 31 December 2023

This is the first misconception to clear, because buyers still ask for it by name. The 75% stamp duty relief on a first home priced RM500,001 to RM1,000,000 was given by the Stamp Duty (Remission) Order 2023 [P.U.(A) 179] for the loan agreement and the Stamp Duty (Remission) (No. 2) Order 2023 [P.U.(A) 180] for the instrument of transfer, under the Home Ownership Programme 2022/2023.

  • Window: SPA executed between 1 June 2022 and 31 December 2023, and duly stamped by 31 January 2024.
  • It was not extended — as at 1 October 2026, no extension order has been gazetted.
  • The consequence is specific: a first-home buyer at RM600,000 today gets nothing on stamp duty and pays the full ordinary ad valorem scale. Budget 2026’s extension covered only the band up to RM500,000.
Louis’s note: this is exactly the gap Rehda has asked Budget 2027 to fill (next section). Read it as a gap, not as a relief. And any page still describing a 75% tier, or giving 31 December 2025 as the first-home SPA deadline, is quoting a superseded position.

[ASKED FOR] Rehda's eight Budget 2027 requests, stated 23 September 2026

Everything in this section is a request, not policy. The asks were set out by Rehda President Datuk Zaini Yusoff at a media briefing on the association’s Property Industry Survey for the first half of 2026, on 23 September 2026. As at 1 October 2026 none of the eight has been granted.

  1. Enhance the Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme (SJKP) to widen financing access for young Malaysians, the self-employed and those with non-traditional incomes.
  2. Government-backed housing financing or guarantee mechanisms for prospective buyers.
  3. Stepped-up financing structures, with lower repayments in the early years of ownership.
  4. Extend stamp duty relief to homes above RM500,000 and up to RM1 million, on a tiered basis, for purchases from January to December 2027.
  5. A special home ownership campaign for unsold completed units holding a CCC.
  6. Reduce housing delivery costs — infrastructure, utility, statutory, regulatory and compliance costs borne by developers.
  7. Fiscal incentives for technology — accelerated capital allowances and investment tax allowances for BIM, IBS, AI, automation and software.
  8. Accelerate green housing.
Ask number 4 is the one that gets misreported, so read it exactly like this: Rehda has asked the government to extend stamp duty relief to homes between RM500,000 and RM1 million for 2027 purchases. As at 1 October 2026 that relief does not exist: a first home above RM500,000 attracts full duty. Whether it is granted will be known on 9 October 2026. Never read “stamp duty relief is being extended to RM1 million” as a fact. (We also did not open Rehda’s own survey release, so this page quotes no figures from the 1H 2026 survey.)

[NOT ANNOUNCED] What the government has signalled — and three things nobody has announced

This section has to be read separately from the last one, because the speaker is different: that was an industry association, this is a ministry. But the conclusion is the same — none of it is policy yet. A ministry asking the Treasury is not the Treasury agreeing.

  • The housing ministry (KPKT) submitted 14 Budget 2027 proposals, announced by Minister Nga Kor Ming on 5 September 2026. Three touch housing: housing tax incentives, a Home Ownership Campaign, and refurbishment of low- and low-medium-cost strata housing. No figures were given for any of them, and the minister expressly framed them as proposals being evaluated for priority, implementation effectiveness and impact on the people.
  • KPKT’s stakeholder engagement of 24 August 2026 (350 stakeholders) produced proposals including reintroducing the Home Ownership Campaign, EV charging infrastructure, better strata building management governance and green financing. The minister said all proposals would be reviewed for feasibility, priorities and the government’s current financial capacity; the ministry was due to take them to the Finance Ministry on 3 September 2026.
  • The strongest genuinely-government signal is the weakest kind of signal: MOF’s own consultation question in the Pre-Budget Statement about measures to improve the affordability of owning or renting a home. A question is not a plan.
  • Two real signals that are about policy rather than money: on 10 August 2026 the government announced a housing policy shift using big data to cut oversupply and drive affordable homes, with KPKT to introduce a big data system guiding housing development from 2027; and on 1 September 2026 Nga said it is time to rethink what makes a home “affordable”. That is worth knowing, because the affordability threshold definition itself may move, and it decides which schemes you will qualify for later.

Three things buyers expect that nobody has announced

Not announced (as at 1 October 2026)
What buyers expectActual position
A higher RM500,000 ceiling for the first-home exemptionNo change has been announced and there is no government signal either way
Reinstatement of a 75% band above RM500,000Not reinstated. It is Rehda’s request (ask 4 above), not policy
A cut to the 8% foreign-buyer rateNo cut, and no indication it will move. The 8% sits in Item 32(ab) of the First Schedule to the Stamp Act 1949 with no expiry date
One more common misconception to clear at the same time: there is no government Home Ownership Campaign running. The last HOC ended and i-MILIKI (2021–22) has ended. HOC revival is a KPKT and Rehda proposal, not settled policy — so a developer marketing “HOC” in 2026 is using the name loosely, with no government campaign behind it. For the foreign-buyer rules and rates, see Singaporeans buying property in Johor.
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What waiting actually costs: how long the last three Budgets took to bite

“Waiting for the Budget” sounds free. It is not. The way to judge it is to look at when the last three Budgets’ measures actually took effect.

What the last three Budgets delivered for buyers, and from when
BudgetTabledBuyer measureTook effectInstrument
202413 Oct 2023Foreign-buyer MOT fixed at a flat 4%1 Jan 2024Finance (No. 2) Act 2023, Item 32(aa)
202413 Oct 2023SJKP guarantee of RM10bn / 40,000 borrowers2024Budget allocation
202413 Oct 2023“Reduce en-bloc sale consent from 100% to international standards”Never. Still not law on 1 Oct 2026—
202518 Oct 2024Housing loan interest deduction, RM7,000 / RM5,000, three yearsYA 2025 (Act in force 24 Dec 2024; SPA window opened 1 Jan 2025)Finance Act 2024, new s.46B of the ITA 1967
202610 Oct 2025First-home stamp duty exemption extended to 31 Dec 2027Window extended; the exemption itself has run since 1 Jan 2021P.U.(A) 448/2025 and 449/2025
202610 Oct 2025Foreign-buyer residential MOT raised 4% to 8%1 Jan 2026Finance Act 2025, new Item 32(ab)
202610 Oct 2025SJKP guarantee RM10bn to RM20bn, around 80,000 buyers2026Budget allocation
  1. Tax and stamp duty measures take effect on the following 1 January, or in the following year of assessment. So a Budget 2027 stamp duty change would most likely bite on 1 January 2027, about twelve weeks after 9 October 2026.
  2. But it needs a Finance Act or a gazetted P.U.(A) order first. Budget 2025’s loan-interest deduction was announced on 18 October 2024 and only existed in law when the Finance Act 2024 came into operation on 24 December 2024; Budget 2026’s extension needed P.U.(A) 448 and 449 of 2025. Until the instrument is gazetted, a Budget announcement is a promise.
  3. And some announcements never arrive at all. Budget 2024 announced a reduction of the en-bloc sale consent threshold “from 100% to a number consistent with international standards” — said by the Prime Minister in the Budget speech on 13 October 2023. Three years later, on 1 October 2026, the threshold has not changed by a word, and the Bill meant to change it has been withdrawn.
So the real cost of waiting is these three things. First, timing risk: both reliefs are bounded by an SPA executed by 31 December 2027, so if you only start looking in October you compress searching, negotiating and loan approval into the same window — and if signing slips into 2028 you lose both reliefs, because no extension beyond 2027 has been gazetted. Second, you may get nothing: the Pre-Budget Statement announced no housing measure at all. Third, you keep paying rent while you wait, and prices and rates do not pause for you — this site does not forecast prices, but put it in the calculation; see rent or buy in Malaysia.

[TO BE UPDATED] What Budget 2027 actually delivered

This section is deliberately empty, because Budget 2027 has not been tabled. It is tabled on Friday 9 October 2026, and this section will be updated after tabling with the measures actually announced, the amount and effective date of each, and which Finance Act or P.U.(A) order it needs in order to exist in law. Until that instrument is gazetted we will keep each item here, as “announced but not yet in force”, rather than moving it into the [IN FORCE] table above.

  • Whether the RM500,000 ceiling for the first-home exemption is raised
  • Whether a tiered exemption above RM500,000 is reinstated (Rehda’s ask 4)
  • Whether a Home Ownership Campaign is announced, and the price caps and dates that come with it
  • Whether the SJKP / HCGS guarantee size or conditions change
  • Whether the section 46B SPA window is extended beyond 31 December 2027
  • Whether the 8% foreign-buyer rate is altered
  • The effective date of each measure, and the Finance Act or P.U.(A) number it needs
How to check it yourself: the Budget documents and speech are published on MOF’s belanjawan.mof.gov.my; stamp duty exemptions are gazetted as P.U.(A) orders; income tax changes go through a Finance Act. When you see a figure, ask two questions: what is the instrument, and what is the expiry date? If those two cannot be answered, it is not yet an incentive. This page was verified as at 1 October 2026; the Dewan Rakyat meeting runs 5 October to 8 December 2026.
Related questions

Related questions

What does stamp duty self-assessment from 1 January 2027 actually mean for a buyer?

Phase 2 of the stamp duty self-assessment system (STSDS) brings transfers of real property into self-assessment on 1 January 2027: the instrument of transfer is assessed and paid by your conveyancer through e-Duti Setem, with cases requiring a JPPH valuation excluded. The rate does not change — the filing method and who carries the assessment risk do. Ask three things at signing: who submits, what the deadline is, and who bears a penalty if the assessment is wrong. It is already legislated and does not depend on Budget 2027.

How long after a Budget announcement does a measure actually take effect?

Two things decide it. The effective date: tax and stamp duty measures usually land on the following 1 January or in the following year of assessment, roughly twelve weeks after tabling. The instrument: income tax changes wait for a Finance Act — Budget 2025’s section 46B deduction only existed once the Finance Act 2024 came into operation on 24 December 2024 — and stamp duty exemptions wait for a gazetted P.U.(A) order, as Budget 2026’s extension did with P.U.(A) 448 and 449 of 2025. Before gazettal, an announcement is a promise.

Did the first-home exemption only start in 2026? Does my 2024 SPA still qualify?

It did not start in 2026. The window runs from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2027: Budget 2026 extended the end date of an existing scheme by two years and did not restart it. So a buyer who signed in 2023 or 2024 and is still completing is inside the orders. Any page saying the exemption applies only to SPAs signed from 1 January 2026, or that the deadline is 31 December 2025, is quoting a superseded position.

Is there a Home Ownership Campaign (HOC) running now?

No. The last HOC ended and i-MILIKI (2021–22) has ended, so no government home ownership campaign is running. Reviving one is a KPKT proposal (one of 14 Budget 2027 proposals announced on 5 September 2026, with no figures attached) and a Rehda request aimed at unsold completed units holding a CCC. Neither is policy. So if a developer advertises “HOC” pricing in 2026, the name is being used loosely with no government campaign behind it — ask what the instrument and the expiry date are.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

When is Budget 2027 tabled in Malaysia?

Friday 9 October 2026. The date is stated in the Ministry of Finance’s Pre-Budget Statement 2027 of 18 August 2026 and was repeated by the Speaker on 23 September 2026; the Prime Minister had signalled “early October” on 23 July 2026. The Dewan Rakyat meeting runs 5 October to 8 December 2026. Note that tabling is not the same as taking effect: tax and stamp duty measures normally start on the following 1 January or in the following year of assessment, and only after a Finance Act or a gazetted P.U.(A) order.

Should I wait for Budget 2027 before buying a house?

There is nothing specific to wait for. The two reliefs a first-home buyer holds — the 100% first-home stamp duty exemption (price not exceeding RM500,000) and the section 46B housing-loan interest deduction — are both conditioned on an SPA executed on or before 31 December 2027, so they already cover the whole of 2027. Nothing expires at the end of 2026. The Pre-Budget Statement announced no housing measure, only a consultation question. The real cost of waiting is timing: both reliefs end with 2027, so an SPA that slips into 2028 loses both.

What is the first-home stamp duty exemption in Malaysia right now, and until when?

A 100% exemption on both the instrument of transfer (MOT) and the loan or financing agreement, for one first residential property valued not exceeding RM500,000, where the SPA is executed between 1 January 2021 and 31 December 2027. The instruments are the 2021 orders P.U.(A) 53/2021 and 54/2021, as amended by P.U.(A) 448/2025 and 449/2025 (those numbers come from Malaysian Bar Circular No. 128/2026 of 16 April 2026). Conditions: a Malaysian citizen individual, the buyer and any co-purchaser never having owned residential property, purchase solely as a dwelling house, one unit only, and a statutory declaration.

Is there any stamp duty relief on a RM600,000 first home?

No. The 75% relief for first homes from RM500,001 to RM1,000,000 (P.U.(A) 179/2023 and 180/2023) ended with the Home Ownership Programme 2022/2023 on 31 December 2023, and no extension has been gazetted. So a RM600,000 first home today pays the full ordinary ad valorem duty. Rehda asked the government on 23 September 2026 to extend relief up to RM1 million, but that is a request — as at 1 October 2026 the relief does not exist.

Can I really deduct my housing loan interest, and for how long?

Yes, under section 46B of the Income Tax Act 1967, inserted by section 10 of the Finance Act 2024 [Act 862]. The amounts are RM7,000 a year where the purchase price is not more than RM500,000 and RM5,000 a year where it is more than RM500,000 but not more than RM750,000; above RM750,000 gets nothing. The period is three consecutive basis years beginning from the basis year in which the interest is first expended. Conditions: first-time buyer, one property, the property must not generate income (so not a unit you rent out), and an SPA executed between 1 January 2025 and 31 December 2027.

Will Budget 2027 cut the foreign-buyer stamp duty rate?

Nobody has signalled that it will. The transfer duty for a non-citizen who is not a Malaysian PR, and for foreign companies, buying residential property is a flat 8% from 1 January 2026, under Item 32(ab) of the First Schedule to the Stamp Act 1949, inserted by the Finance Act 2025, with no expiry date. Non-residential is a flat 4%. Two corrections: it is not a “4% to 8% sliding scale” — the rate rose from 4% to 8% — and Malaysian PRs are excluded and pay the ordinary citizen 1/2/3/4% scale.

Will stamp duty be filed differently if I buy in 2027?

Yes. Phase 2 of the stamp duty self-assessment system (STSDS) brings transfers of real property into self-assessment on 1 January 2027: the instrument of transfer is self-assessed through e-Duti Setem, with cases requiring a JPPH valuation excluded. This is a compliance change, not a rate change, and it is already legislated — it does not depend on Budget 2027. The practical effect is that a 2027 completion will be filed and paid differently from a 2026 one, so ask your conveyancer about the deadlines and who submits.

Sources & verification

  1. Ministry of Finance — Pre-Budget Statement 2027, 18 August 2026
  2. Ministry of Finance — Belanjawan (Budget) portal
  3. Malaysian Bar — Circular No. 128/2026, 16 April 2026 (names the amending stamp duty exemption orders)
  4. EY Malaysia — Stamp duty exemptions on the purchase of first residential homes (the 2021 orders)
  5. The Star, 10 October 2025 — Budget 2026: stamp duty exemption extended for first-time homebuyers
  6. RDS Law Partners — Key stamp duty changes in Malaysia from 1 January 2026
  7. EY Malaysia — Stamp duty exemptions under the Home Ownership Programme 2022/2023 (P.U.(A) 179 and 180 of 2023)
  8. KPMG Malaysia — Stamp Act 1949: recent developments, reforms and business implications
  9. Finance Act 2024 [Act 862], section 10 inserting section 46B of the Income Tax Act 1967 (Moore Malaysia tax flash)
  10. EY Malaysia — Take 5: Budget 2025 (18 October 2024)
  11. RinggitPlus, 10 March 2026 — Income tax relief Malaysia: what's new for YA 2025
  12. Syarikat Jaminan Kredit Perumahan (SJKP) — official site
  13. Malay Mail, 10 October 2025 — Budget 2026 housing: RM672m affordable housing, stamp duty waivers extended to 2027
  14. Business Today, 10 October 2025 — Budget 2026: expanded affordable housing and first-time homeownership support
  15. LHDN — Stamp duty self-assessment system (STSDS)
  16. Malay Mail, 23 September 2026 — Budget 2027 wishlist: Rehda wants wider housing loan access and a campaign for unsold units
  17. Bernama, 5 September 2026 — KPKT submits 14 Budget 2027 proposals
  18. Bernama, 24 August 2026 — KPKT stakeholder engagement ahead of Budget 2027 (HOC among proposals)
  19. Malay Mail, 10 August 2026 — Housing policy shift: big data to cut oversupply and drive affordable homes
  20. The Star, 1 September 2026 — Nga: time to rethink what makes a home 'affordable'
  21. The Star, 23 July 2026 — Budget 2027 to be tabled in early October, says PM Anwar
  22. Malay Mail, 23 September 2026 — Dewan Rakyat meeting 5 October to 8 December 2026 (Speaker Tan Sri Johari Abdul)
  23. Malay Mail, 13 October 2023 — Budget 2024: en bloc sales to no longer need 100pc buy-in
  24. HHQ — Budget 2024 real estate highlights
  25. RHB notice, 28 March 2023 — closure of Skim Rumah Pertamaku with effect from 1 April 2023

Verified: 2026-09-20. This guide is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and rates change — confirm in writing with your lawyer, bank or the relevant authority before you sign.

Stage 1

More in this stage

How to Check a Property Developer in Malaysia: Licence, APDL & Red FlagsHow to check a property developer in Malaysia: verify the licence and APDL on KPKT's TEDUH, spot 'sick' projects (30% behind), pay only into the HDA account.Subsale Due Diligence in Malaysia: Title Search, Caveats, Arrears & InspectionSubsale due diligence in Malaysia: a Johor land title search costs about RM40 (private) or RM120 (official). Check charges, caveats, arrears and condition.Property Agent Fees in Malaysia: REN vs REA vs PEA, How to Verify & Who PaysProperty agent fees in Malaysia are capped at 3% of the price (min RM1,000), usually paid by the seller. How to verify a REN, REA or PEA, plus letting fees.Property Valuation in Malaysia: Bank Valuation & Where to Check Transacted PricesProperty valuation in Malaysia: what a RM30k valuation shortfall costs you, valuation fees, and how to check transacted prices on NAPIC before you offer.Auction Property in Malaysia (Lelong): Process, Risks & FinancingBuying auction property in Malaysia: court auctions need a 10% bank draft deposit and the balance within 120 days, or the deposit is forfeited. LACA vs court.How Much Money Do You Need to Buy a House in Malaysia? Down Payment, Margin of Finance and Upfront CostsHow much money do you need to buy a house in Malaysia? For a RM500k home: 10% down plus stamp duty and legal fees, about RM70k new or RM74k subsale.

Louis Koh

11 years in Malaysian property · Johor Bahru & Kuala Lumpur · English & 中文

I help local buyers and cross-border buyers from Singapore with new and subsale property. Every figure in these guides is sourced; when a rule changes, I update the page and date it.

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Send me your situation — new or subsale, budget, state, and where you are in the process — and I will tell you what to do next and what to watch for.

Send me your price band, whether this is your first home, and the area, and I'll send a free upfront-cost breakdown at today's rates, with the instrument and expiry date against every line.

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Louis Koh · 11 years in Malaysian property · +60 10-906 6685 · replies 9am–10pm MYT

Should You Wait for Budget 2027 Before Buying a House in Malaysia?Buying Guide · Before you book
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