Foreigner buying property in malaysia
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Purchasing a property can be a confusing matter even to locals, so what about foreigners who wish to make a home in Malaysia? This guide serves to help ease them into the process as much as possible.


Foreigners in Malaysia are either expatriates or tourists, and thus have been received with warm welcomes when visiting our country. Now the Government is also encouraging these foreigners to choose to make Malaysia their second home, whether for long-term stay, retirement or investment purposes.

If you're reading this and you're a foreigner, before making any decisions, you would need to understand certain policies and legal fees imposed by the Government on property purchases. Therefore, this article serves to guide you through the properties available to foreigners, the minimum purchase value imposed by state authorities, and the property financing in Malaysia.



What kind of properties can foreigners own?

Foreign ownership of property is liberal (foreigners can even own 100% of the property) in Malaysia as long as minimum requirements are met. In law, foreigners can own any type of properties with the exception of:

1. Properties valued less than RM1 million
 2. Low and medium cost residential units as defined by state authority
 3. Properties standing on Malay Reserved land
 4. Properties distributed to Bumiputera interest in any property development project as determined by state authority

Having said that, foreigners can easily own a bungalow, terrace house, condominium, flat, landed property, studio unit, commercial property, industrial property, agricultural land (except Malay Reserved Land) and industrial land (except Malay Reserved Land).

Read our article “Property Investment Landed or High Rise” to understand more before buying a property.



What is the minimum requirement for the property value?

Generally speaking, a minimum value of RM1 mil is applied to all kinds of property in every state. However, state authorities remain in power to amend the minimum value in the states that they control.



How can foreigners buy at a lower price?

Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme is a programme tailored to foreigners who wish to stay in Malaysia for a long period of time (10-year visa). A large number of foreigners who used to work in Malaysia have already applied for this programme for their retirement in Malaysia.

Before putting in an application, foreigners below 50 years of age are required to prepare a minimum of RM500,000 in their Savings Account / Current Account / Fixed Deposit whereas those aged above 50 years of age need to have at least RM350,000 in similar accounts.

Despite the relatively high requirement, one clear advantage is that MM2H gives foreigners access to property with lower value. The table below shows the lowest value of property foreigners can buy with / without MM2H.



Financing with Home Loan

The Margin of Finance (MOF) can go up to 80% for MM2H holders, while non-MM2H holders would generally get 70% MOF. In this matter, foreigners are usually better off taking loans from foreign banks in Malaysia. However, all these come with an exception when they are married to a Malaysian citizen. In this case, the spouse will be required to take part in the loan financing to enjoy MOF as high as 90%.

Click the link to find a suitable home loan that meets your requirements in Malaysia.      



General FAQ

I’m a Singaporean / Singaporean PR and I own a HDB flat, can I buy private residential properties in Malaysia?

Readers who fall in this category might need to guard against the Singapore’s policy. According to HDB InfoWEB, those who own HDB flat can only buy both local and overseas private residential properties after 5 years since first possessing the flat, regardless of whether the flat is being transferred to others within the period. This is known as minimum-occupation-period (MOP).



Conclusion

As you may wonder, many policies are made to tackle the ballooning property price in major cities. Other than that, Malaysia is still a foreigner-friendly country with relatively cheap living costs. Make sure you are fully prepared with your funds and don’t forget to enjoy the interesting life of mingling with the multi-racial community here in Malaysia!

This article is brought to you by Loanstreet.com.my, Malaysia’s leading independent loan comparison website.

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@admin_ps 

Properties valued less than RM1 million.

Does it mean the SnP price? Or the bank valuation?

I see some new properties SnP price above the RM1 million mark, and then give hefty discounts to buyers and the nett price become less than RM1 million.

So does the foreigner still eligible to purchase this property?

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for your information that is according snp price

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@domng 

Basically the criteria of 1Mil will based on the official purchaser price. What ever unofficial records of rebate or discount will not be consider. 

For example: SPA Property price is RM 1mil

Rebate: 10% = RM 100,000

Actually purchase price is RM 900,000.

Offical price is not necessary equal to Actual price.


Hope this help :D

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@px_jerome 

Thanks for your explanation.

I believe there are still a lot of loopholes, that enable foreigners to purchase properties below the RM1million mark. 

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Well, before the GE, i think the slogan is "Malaysia Boleh". After the change of government, this will be pretty strict. You are right too, the ownership of the property (not illegible by foreigner) might reflect as official and legal but there is always another unofficial prearrangement for the foreigner with the malaysia proxy. After all it is business.

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@px_jerome 

As long as the new government can profit from the property sales to foreigners. I still think it is a win-win deal. 

In fact, it is still very affordable and a bargain at RM1million. USD250k is not very expensive to many expats. 

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dom... agree with you... good for country, good for our property market... good for everybody.. all these need time...

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@domng agreed with your statement.

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@windzneom 

Now it really depends... on how the exchange rate between USD and MYR will perform... if Malaysia decides to peg the exchange rate, then will have effect on those investors who keep a lot of USD in the bank.

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@domng well, i think as long as the stock market stable and increase, the exchange rate won't be a big problem. 

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@windzneom 

I am looking forward to the Budget 2019 announcement by LGE come year end 2018.

See how much budget is the new government allocating for first time home buyers.

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@domng ya man! can't wait for that!! and i think this time national day celebrations will be full of crowd. haha

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@windzneom 

Yeah, i have heard that this year Hari Raya celebration @ Seri Perdana, very crowded!

Wonder where will they hold the National Day celebration this year?

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@domng i think most likely will have!

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government would not change foreigner buy property policy so far, overthought form new government 

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@jaspertan_realt 

Let's wait for the Budget 2019 announcement later this year, and its effect on the property sector.

I foresee a lot of surprises (good and bad) for everyone.

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Baik jangan tukar syarat sebab nanti property too hot.. create bubble.


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@CoachHartanah 

In my opinion, if the government make it harder for developers to sell (impose higher sales tax, increase stamp duty, lower loan margin)... 

The developers might actually lower their prices in order to improve sales... 

If that is the true purpose of government intervention, then they have successfully lowered the property prices.

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@admin_ps thank you for sharing