Kuala Lumpur: The Housing and Local Government Ministry is targeting to generate RM180 billion in property sales across all sectors this year, said its minister Nga Kor Ming. He emphasized the ministry’s collaboration with the Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association (Rehda) Malaysia to organize the inaugural ASEAN Real Estate Conference (AREC) 2025, scheduled for July 23-26.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, the event will be held alongside the Architecture, Interior Design, and Building Exhibition (ARCHIDEX) and will involve ASEAN countries, with a special invitation extended to China. The conference is expected to attract more than 50,000 visitors, generating sales of about RM1.2 billion.
The Asia Real Estate Leaders (AREL) study tour, which took place recently in Melbourne, Australia, was organized by Rehda Institute and Monash University. This event brought together over 180 key stakeholders from Australia and Malaysia’s housing and real estate sectors, providing Malaysian developers with an opportunity to engage with leading Australian experts in various fields such as mixed-use developments, retirement villages, sustainable development, social housing, and urban townships.
Nga highlighted Malaysia’s achievement in reaching the highest volume and value of property transactions over the past decade in 2024. Total property transactions rose by 18 percent to RM223.2 billion compared to RM196.8 billion the previous year.
In his keynote address, Nga addressed the rapid ageing of Malaysia’s population, projecting that those aged 60 and above will rise to 14.5 percent in 2040 from 8.3 percent in 2020. He noted that one in every ten individuals will require housing solutions specifically designed to meet the needs of senior citizens, yet only 2.1 percent of Malaysia’s total housing stock is currently designated for senior living.
Nga emphasized the urgent need for Malaysia to develop specific solutions to address the needs of the elderly. He expressed interest in exploring senior living developments as an emerging segment within the domestic housing market. Additionally, Nga announced that his ministry has allocated RM30,000 to REHDA Institute to support research assignments aimed at addressing these challenges.