Factors influencing housing affordability in Malaysia

The housing industry in Malaysia has grown rapidly since the country's independence to this day, the housing industry has been a key driver of the country's economic development and improvement. Housing affordability, on the other hand, remains a major issue in both developed and developing nations, as well as a policy priority. This study identifies certain related barriers and issues of housing affordability and examine the factors influence of housing affordability in Malaysia. This study used comparison model of panel data including several variables namely household expense, population, interest rate, inflation rate and rental rate. The regression model of panel data namely the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) Model, the Fixed Effects (FE) Model, and the Random Effects (RE) Model, were evaluated for their suitability. The findings revealed that rental rate (RR) and inflation rate (IF) have a positive and significant impact towards housing affordability. The results provide evidence that RR as alternative in determining the housing affordability as it helped in reducing the cost and financing duration period of houses, at the same time increase the capability of homeownership level. Meanwhile, the inflation rate (IF) also has a positive and significant impact toward housing affordability. Higher inflation (IF) will cause the price of housing to rise, making homes more expensive. As a result, the housing affordability index increased, making it more difficult for the community to acquire, which decreased the level of homeowners. This study sheds light on various stakeholders' perceptions on Malaysia's housing affordability problems by geographic area. Additionally, this study contributes data on rental rates per Malaysian state, which policymakers may find useful in tackling the stress of housing affordability