Malaysia’s property market could look very different in 2026 not because of explosive growth, but because of a deeper realignment of what buyers want, where they want it and why.
Two leading voices in the industry, Juwai IQI Co-Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer Kashif Ansari and Knight Frank Executive Director Amy Wong Siew Fong, agree that the year ahead will be defined by rising confidence and rising standards, even as developers and investors navigate tighter margins and more discerning demand.
Their shared message: 2026 won’t reward volume. It will reward clarity — clarity of demand, clarity of value and clarity of location.
Housing Market Reawakens: Policy Support Meets Rising Demand
Ansari told BusinessToday that he sees 2026 as a year of renewed momentum across the residential landscape, driven by affordability tailwinds and economic fundamentals.
“Four factors will support the housing market next year,” he said, highlighting expected interest rate cuts, stamp duty exemptions, strong job and income trends, and major infrastructure investments. Home prices, he forecasts, are likely to rise between 2.5% and 5% — steady but meaningful growth for a market still normalising post-pandemic.
Wong, meanwhile, believes the demand story hinges less on price and more on quality. Buyers are no longer chasing square footage at the lowest cost. They are chasing liveability such as strong locations, trusted developers and efficient homes.
“Well-positioned, mid-priced homes and properly managed developments are expected to outperform,” she told BusinessToday, while warning that weaker or poorly located projects may struggle to gain traction.
Overall, Knight Frank’s outlook for commercial and retail real estate is clear: The divide between future-ready assets and aging stock will widen.
“Well-connected, energy-efficient and flexible buildings are attracting tenants; older spaces face structural pressure.
“Retail leasing remains resilient, but growth is set to favour necessity-driven and experience-led formats rather than expansion for expansion’s sake,” Wong said.
She emphasised that this shift reflects a broader change in tenant expectations amid higher-for-longer interest rates and rising operating costs.
“Efficiency is now a core metric; not an upgrade,” she said.
Industrial and Logistics: The Market to Beat
Commenting further, Wong highlighted that industrial and logistics remain Malaysia’s strongest sector heading into 2026.
While manufacturing strength, supply chain realignment and accelerating data centre demand will be the powerful engines driving activity, Wong also notes a rise in selectivity where occupiers are choosing infrastructure-ready, scalable sites over generic industrial land.
Ansari also echoes the importance of infrastructure but on a national scale.
“The three biggest opportunities for property developers are infrastructure, infrastructure and infrastructure,” he said, listing a pipeline of major projects from Johor to Penang and Sabah that will reshape commute times, unlock new corridors and lift long-term demand.
Foreign Investment: Still Strong, Slightly Softer at the Edges
Malaysia remains attractive to overseas buyers, particularly in Johor, Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Ansari notes strong demand from Singapore, China and Hong Kong, anchored by Malaysia’s affordability, connectivity and lifestyle appeal.
He predicts that higher stamp duties for foreign buyers may curb demand by “a couple of percentage points at the margin”, but expects no lasting impact.
Foreign institutional interest, however, will be increasingly selective, Wong said while noting that the focus will be on income resilience and governance rather than speculative capital appreciation.
Meanwhile, both experts warn that rising construction and compliance costs will push developers to think twice before launching new stock. As such, Ansari expects fewer new home pipelines in 2026 as developers wait for prices to catch up with cost pressures, while Wong highlights execution risk and mismatched supply as key threats especially in a market where buyers and occupiers are more informed, more price-sensitive and less forgiving.
2026: Not Just More Building — Better Building
The strongest alignment between both thinkers lies in where the market is heading: Towards purpose-built, efficiency-led real estate tied to infrastructure, value and end-user experience.
“Locations that will be in demand are those that offer faster trips to central areas or that have been newly linked to mass transit,” Ansari said.
Wong, meanwhile, adds a strategic shift: Real estate is becoming an ecosystem integrated with technology, infrastructure, services and user experience, especially in industrial and mixed-use environments. And to succeed, developers must “prioritise quality over speed” and remain tightly attuned to occupier and buyer needs, she emphasised.
In the hindsight
Malaysia’s property market in 2026 will not be a wave all boats can ride. But for developers, investors and buyers who understand where demand is flowing and why as it could be a year of opportunity.
Infrastructure is reshaping the map. Buyers are reshaping expectations. The industry is reshaping itself around value, efficiency and connectivity.
Growth will happen but not everywhere, it will be in the right places, for the right reasons and at the right time.
