Pick the unit the next buyer wants.

Start from the tenant, not the unit. DOSM’s Household Income Survey 2024 puts the median household income at RM 10,802 a month in Kuala Lumpur, RM 10,726 in Selangor, RM 7,712 in Johor and RM 7,386 in Penang. A third of the KL median is about RM 3,600: the rent you need has to sit inside what the likely tenant earns. District figures, where the survey gives them:

DOSM Household Income Survey via data.gov.my (hh_income_district.csv, CC BY 4.0), downloaded 20 Oct 2026; gross household income.

State medians: DOSM, Household Income Survey 2024 report (storage.dosm.gov.my/hies/household_income_2024.pdf), read 21 Oct 2026.

Smaller units sell at a higher price per square foot in the same building: in NAPIC’s recorded sales, units under 550 sq ft went for a median +10% psf versus 800–1,100 sq ft units in the same building, and 1,100–1,500 sq ft units for -6%. You pay more per foot for small units; it is worth it only if they also rent faster.

Our calculation from NAPIC open transaction data (Data Transaksi Terbuka), Kuala Lumpur and Selangor high-rise sales Jan 2024 – Jun 2026, downloaded 4 Oct 2026. Same-building comparison: each group needs at least 3 sales in the building.

Less than sales galleries suggest. In the same building, floors 6 to 30 sold at about the same psf as floors 1 to 5 (median difference +0% to +0%). Above floor 30 the median gap was +7%, from only 13 buildings. Price lists in new launches usually step up by floor; recorded resale prices do not keep the full step.

Our calculation from NAPIC open transaction data (Data Transaksi Terbuka), Kuala Lumpur and Selangor high-rise sales Jan 2024 – Jun 2026, downloaded 4 Oct 2026. Same-building comparison: each group needs at least 3 sales in the building.

There is no official data on facing; this is judgement. What to check: west-facing glass takes the afternoon sun (higher air-conditioning use); units next to the lift core or refuse chute hear it; corner units get two exposures and often a better layout; a view that a planned tower can block is not a view. Ask for the site plan with the neighbouring plots’ zoning.

No official standard either. Work it out yourself from the floor plan: add up the rooms you can furnish (bedrooms, living, dining, kitchen) and divide by the built-up area. Long corridors, odd angles and balconies counted in the built-up area all lower it. Two units of the same size can feel a bedroom apart.

Across 111 new launches on this portal that publish a rate, the middle half charge RM 0.35 to 0.50 psf a month (median RM 0.40; range RM 0.22 to 1.32). Check whether the sinking fund is included: some lists quote it separately.

Under the Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015, charges are shared in proportion to share units. Where the Commissioner of Buildings has appointed a managing agent, the sinking fund is set at 10% of the charges (reg. 45(1)). Late payment can carry interest of 10% a year, counted daily, from 14 days after the notice, unless the MC sets another rate at a general meeting (Third Schedule, by-law 6(2)).

Portal rates: developer price lists (MPD export 14 Oct 2026). Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015, P.U.(A) 107/2015 (gazette dated 1 Jun 2015), copy on dbkl.gov.my, read 21 Oct 2026.

The developer sets the first charges; once the joint management body (JMB) or management corporation (MC) is in place, owners decide charges and the sinking fund at a general meeting, shared by share units. So yes, it can go up, by owners’ vote. A defaulter’s restrictions extend to the tenant (Third Schedule by-law 6(1)(b)). Before buying a completed unit, ask for the last two years’ accounts and the minutes of the last general meeting.

Strata Management (Maintenance and Management) Regulations 2015, P.U.(A) 107/2015, Form 5A and Third Schedule, read 21 Oct 2026.

Tenure is plain data on every project page; 97 of the portal’s projects are freehold and 64 leasehold. In NAPIC’s KL sales, freehold condos traded at a median RM 564 psf and leasehold at RM 413 psf, but that gap mixes in location and age, so it is not a tenure premium on its own.

Leasehold titles run for a fixed term stated on the title. How a lease is extended, and the premium the state charges, is set by each state; we could not read a current official rule on it today, so no figure is given here. Ask for the lease expiry date on the title before you compare prices.

Lease renewal rules: not verified on 21 Oct 2026 (left out). KL medians: Our calculation from NAPIC open transaction data (Data Transaksi Terbuka), KL only.

Serviced apartments usually sit on commercial land and are recorded by NAPIC under commercial property. In the same NAPIC areas they sold at higher median psf than condos, partly because they are newer and more central. What differs for an investor: the first-home stamp duty exemption does not cover serviced apartments, SOHO, SOFO or SOVO; and utilities and assessment may be charged at different rates depending on the council and title.

Our calculation from NAPIC open transaction data (Data Transaksi Terbuka), Kuala Lumpur and Selangor high-rise sales Jan 2024 – Jun 2026, downloaded 4 Oct 2026. Same-building comparison: each group needs at least 3 sales in the building. First-home exemption scope: LHDN, as on our calculators.

Half of the portal’s 148 projects are within 0.89 km (straight line) of a rail station; 48 are within 500 m and 78 within 1 km. Straight line is not walking distance: check the actual route, crossings and shade. A busy station brings both tenants and noise.

• KLCC KJ10 · 5 portal projects within 1 km41,751
• Tun Razak Exchange KG20 · 2 portal projects within 1 km39,974
• Abdullah Hukum KJ17 · 1 portal project within 1 km27,430
• Bank Rakyat Bangsar KJ16 · 3 portal projects within 1 km15,916
• Universiti KJ19 · 2 portal projects within 1 km14,334
• Kerinchi KJ18 · 3 portal projects within 1 km13,503
• Pusat Bandar Damansara KG13 · 5 portal projects within 1 km10,581
• Asia Jaya KJ21 · 2 portal projects within 1 km10,253
• Ara Damansara KJ26 · 2 portal projects within 1 km9,399
• Dang Wangi KJ12 · 1 portal project within 1 km8,369

Journeys starting plus ending at each station, daily average 2026-09-20 to 2026-10-19: data.gov.my (Prasarana / Rapid KL) Rapid Rail daily origin-destination 2026, CC BY 4.0, downloaded 20 Oct 2026. Distances: straight line from the developer’s coordinates.

NAPIC counts condos and apartments under construction (“incoming”) and approved but not started (“planned”). Set against what already exists, the pipeline is largest in these areas:

• Mukim Kuala LumpurKuala Lumpur · 60,757 built · 10,792 incoming · 8,490 planned32%
• KlangSelangor · 31,367 built · 2,226 incoming · 7,681 planned32%
• SepangSelangor · 28,152 built · 5,230 incoming · 3,127 planned30%
• Hulu LangatSelangor · 98,299 built · 12,449 incoming · 10,970 planned24%
• Mukim BatuKuala Lumpur · 68,132 built · 5,272 incoming · 8,322 planned20%
• Bandar Kuala LumpurKuala Lumpur · 53,343 built · 2,696 incoming · 6,375 planned17%
• Mukim SetapakKuala Lumpur · 65,001 built · 5,630 incoming · 4,899 planned16%
• Mukim PetalingKuala Lumpur · 80,955 built · 3,045 incoming · 8,100 planned14%
• Johor BahruJohor · 67,912 built · 1,519 incoming · 6,407 planned12%
• PetalingSelangor · 187,586 built · 16,625 incoming · 5,058 planned12%
• GombakSelangor · 61,312 built · 3,461 incoming · 1,918 planned9%

NAPIC, Jadual Stok Harta Kediaman Q2 2026 (residential stock table, condominium/apartment; serviced apartments are counted in commercial stock and are not included), downloaded 20 Oct 2026. Bar = (incoming + planned) ÷ existing.

NAPIC counts a home as unsold completed when it has its certificate of completion and compliance, has been launched, and is still unsold more than 9 months after the first sale agreement of that project or phase. Serviced apartments and SOHO are counted under commercial property. In H1 2026, 33,094 completed homes were unsold nationwide (+23.0% on a year earlier), and 23,375 serviced apartments (+30.7%), 71.1% of them unsold for 6 to 10 years. Johor Bahru alone had 9,778 unsold completed serviced apartments.

Unsold stock is a warning about a type and a price band, not about every building. Where it is high, resale and rent compete with developers’ discounted stock.

NAPIC, Laporan Status Pasaran Harta Tanah H1 2026 and Jadual Status Pasaran Harta Tanah Q2 2026 (tables 3 and 9; technical note 6), napic.jpph.gov.my/archives/laporan-status-harta-tanah, read 21 Oct 2026.

New launches on this portal are priced above completed resale nearby: across 36 projects with a NAPIC resale baseline, the median gap between the starting psf and the area’s completed-condo resale median is 40%. Part of that is newer buildings and facilities; part is what resale buyers will not pay. A completed unit lets you see the actual view, noise and tenant demand before you buy.

Value map (value.json, built 20 Oct 2026): developer starting psf vs NAPIC completed-condo resale median in the same locality, Jan 2024 – Jun 2026. See the value map.

There is no official per-building rent series for Malaysian homes. Listing portals show asking rents, which are what owners hope for, not signed leases. Ask an agent for recent tenancy agreements (stamped tenancy agreements carry the rent), and compare like with like: same size, furnishing and floor band.

Ordinary letting is taxed as rental income under section 4(d) of the Income Tax Act; letting with comprehensive, active services can be business income under 4(a). Deductible (examples in LHDN’s ruling): assessment and quit rent, interest on the loan for the let unit, fire insurance, rent collection, costs of renewing a tenancy, ordinary repairs. Not deductible: the “initial expenses” of the first tenancy — advertising, legal fees and stamp duty on the first agreement, agent commission. A 4(d) loss cannot be set against other income. Non-resident individuals pay a flat 30% on rent (from year of assessment 2020); residents pay the normal scale (0% to 30% for YA 2023–2025).

LHDN Public Ruling No. 12/2018, Income from Letting of Real Property, 19 Dec 2018 (paras 8.2–8.5; still the current letting ruling on hasil.gov.my); LHDN non-resident rates page (updated 26 May 2026); resident rates page (updated 26 Jun 2026). Read 21 Oct 2026. Whether maintenance charges are deductible is not stated in the ruling, so not claimed here.

Bank Negara caps the loan-to-value ratio at 70% for an individual’s third and later housing loans (measure of 3 Nov 2010; no newer official restatement found). For the first two, the bank decides within its own policy. BNM’s Overnight Policy Rate is 2.75%, held at every 2026 meeting to 3 September. In its 2H 2025 Financial Stability Review, BNM reported a median LTV of 70.3% on outstanding housing loans (Dec 2025) and an impaired-loan ratio of 0.8% for investors.

BNM press release, 3 Nov 2010 (bnm.gov.my); BNM Open API OPR (decided 3 Sep 2026); BNM Financial Stability Review 2H 2025, chapter 1b. Read 21 Oct 2026.

Instalment, maintenance fee and sinking fund, quit rent and assessment, insurance, and the months it sits empty. Use the holding-cost box in the checklist tool below with a real project; the instalment uses the same formula as our loan calculator.

For a Malaysian citizen or permanent resident selling as an individual, real property gains tax is 30% within 3 years, 20% in the 4th year, 15% in the 5th and 0% from the 6th year (disposals from 1 January 2022). Companies and foreigners pay 10% from the 6th year.

Inland Revenue Board (LHDN), RPGT rates, Schedule 5; as on our calculators, checked 20 Oct 2026.

KPKT’s TEDUH site lists each licensed project’s licence and advertising permit, construction progress, the sale agreement schedule (G for landed, H for strata) and the developer’s record of sick or abandoned projects. Our project pages show it where we have looked it up, e.g. Khaya Residences.

KPKT (Jabatan Perumahan Negara), teduh.kpkt.gov.my, looked up 20 Oct 2026.

Depends on the council and the building’s rules. See our short-term rental guide, by council.