Budget 2027 Expands First-Time Buyer Stamp Duty Exemption to RM750,000 Homes

Key figures

• ●Budget 2027 keeps a full stamp duty exemption for first homes up to RM500,000 and adds a 50% exemption on the portion between RM500,000 and RM750,000, for agreements signed January 1, 2027 to December 31, 2030, per Nanyang Property, The Star and Free Malaysia Today
• ●The Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme (SJKP) guarantee limit rises to RM20 billion, expected to help about 80,000 first-time buyers without fixed income, per Nanyang Property and EdgeProp Malaysia
• ●Close to RM1 billion is set aside for affordable-housing schemes including Rumah Mesra Rakyat, though Nanyang Property and EdgeProp Malaysia named a different second scheme
• ●Developers or rescue contractors taking over abandoned housing projects, and the original buyers, get a stamp duty exemption through December 2030, supporting a zero-abandoned-projects-by-2030 target, per Nanyang Property and EdgeProp Malaysia
• ●REHDA welcomed the expansion but asked the government to consider raising the threshold to RM1 million and to review development costs and government charges, Free Malaysia Today reported

News summary

Prime Minister and Finance Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim expanded stamp duty relief for first-time home buyers when he tabled Budget 2027 in the Dewan Rakyat on October 9, 2026, Nanyang Property reported. Homes priced up to RM500,000 keep a full stamp duty exemption on both the loan agreement and the transfer instrument, while homes priced above RM500,000 up to RM750,000 get a full exemption on the first RM500,000 plus a 50% exemption on the remaining amount, according to Nanyang Property, The Star and Free Malaysia Today. The relief applies to sale and purchase agreements signed between January 1, 2027 and December 31, 2030, all three outlets reported.

The government also raised the guarantee limit of its Housing Credit Guarantee Scheme (SJKP) to RM20 billion, which Nanyang Property and EdgeProp Malaysia both reported is expected to help about 80,000 people who lack a fixed income or are self-employed secure home loans. Nanyang Property additionally reported close to RM1 billion set aside for the Rumah Mesra Rakyat and Program Perumahan Rakyat affordable-housing schemes, while EdgeProp described the same near-RM1 billion allocation as covering Rumah Mesra Rakyat and Program Residensi Rakyat; the two outlets did not agree on the second scheme's name.

Separately, developers or rescue contractors who take over abandoned housing projects, along with the original buyers in those projects, are exempt from stamp duty on the sale and purchase agreements involved, effective the same January 2027 to December 2030 window, Nanyang Property and EdgeProp Malaysia reported. Both outlets said the measure supports the government's target of zero abandoned housing projects by 2030. Nanyang Property reported additional plans to build at least 2,500 affordable homes on about 11 acres of government land in Belfield, Kuala Lumpur, with 70% reserved for Bumiputera buyers, plus further affordable-housing sites in Bukit Jalil, Kulai, Rantau, Bayu Lumut and Lembah Pabal; this detail was not corroborated by the English-language outlets reviewed.

Industry reaction was positive but wanted more. CBRE|WTW managing director Tan Ka Liang told Nanyang Property that extending the relief to RM750,000 particularly helps buyers in higher-priced markets such as Kuala Lumpur by cutting upfront costs, and that pairing tax relief with loan guarantees and affordable supply supports both near-term demand and the market's longer-term development. The Real Estate and Housing Developers' Association (REHDA), through president Zaini Yusoff, welcomed the expanded exemption but urged the government to keep reviewing the threshold against house prices and consider extending it to properties priced up to RM1 million, Free Malaysia Today reported. REHDA also asked for measures to offset rising construction and compliance costs and for a review of government charges, and separately called for a revival of the Home Ownership Campaign, which offered stamp duty waivers and rebates before ending in December 2025, according to Free Malaysia Today.

For buyers, the practical takeaway is that eligibility for the exemption is tied to the date the sale and purchase agreement is signed, not any earlier booking date, so purchases need to complete within the January 2027 to December 2030 window to qualify.