6 In 10 KL Condo Resales Gained, But Returns Stayed Low

Nearly 60% Sold Above Their Previous Purchase Price

Kuala Lumpur’s condominium resale market can look reasonably healthy if performance is measured only by whether owners sold for more than they originally paid.

EdgeProp analysed 384 non-landed Kuala Lumpur residential properties resold between July 1, 2025 and June 30, 2026 where the latest transaction could be matched with a previous purchase price.

Of these, 230 units — or 59.9% — changed hands at higher values, while 154 recorded lower resale prices. The higher-priced resales generated RM81.31 million in combined gross gains, with a median positive difference of RM176,000.

But that headline hides a much more important question: how long did the owner have to wait for that gain?

Median Annualised Return Was Only 1.2%

Once holding periods were taken into account, the median annualised return across all 384 matched transactions was only 1.2% a year.

After EdgeProp removed transactions with characteristics that could make them less representative of normal open-market sales, the median fell further to 0.5% annually.

That changes the interpretation considerably.

A RM300,000 increase on a RM1 million property sounds substantial, but the result is very different if that increase took three years instead of 15.

Annualising the return makes properties bought at different times more comparable.

It also exposes the difference between a property that simply sold for more and one that actually worked efficiently as an investment.

Gross Gain Is Not The Same As Investment Profit

Even the annualised figures do not represent what an owner ultimately keeps.

The underlying transaction analysis does not deduct mortgage interest, legal fees, agent commissions, renovation costs or Real Property Gains Tax.

EdgeProp used 4% — representing a typical mortgage rate — as a reference point rather than claiming the figures represent net investor profit.

This is particularly important when median annualised appreciation is around 1%.

A property may have appreciated nominally while the owner’s financing and transaction costs consumed much or all of that increase.

For buyers, “sold at a higher price” should therefore never be treated automatically as “made a good return”.

Park Regent Stands Out In The Matched Data

Project-level analysis shows how different outcomes can be within the same city.

Park Regent in Desa ParkCity recorded the strongest performance among the selected developments with several matched resales.

All seven tracked units sold above their earlier purchase prices, generating an average annualised return of 13.4%.

The freehold lakefront project launched in 2019 and was handed over in November 2023.

The result is striking, although seven matched transactions remain a relatively small sample.

It should be interpreted as a useful project-level signal rather than a guarantee that every Park Regent unit has appreciated at the same rate.

Affordable Does Not Necessarily Mean Weak Performance

At the opposite end of the positioning spectrum, Ketumbar Heights in Cheras also performed well.

All five matched transactions identified in the analysis recorded gains, producing an average annualised return of 4.1%.

The freehold project was completed in 2010 and comprises relatively compact units of around 755 to 955 sq ft.

This is useful because it challenges the assumption that superior returns are reserved for luxury projects, branded residences or prime central locations.

Entry price and subsequent buyer demand can matter more than prestige.

The Tropika And TRX Residences Show More Moderate Returns

The Tropika in Bukit Jalil recorded 11 matched resales, nine of which sold above prior purchase prices.

Its average annualised return was 2.2%.

That is far below Park Regent’s result, but the larger number of matched transactions makes the pattern useful when looking at how the project has performed in the secondary market.

TRX Residences produced an even more balanced outcome.

Five of nine matched resales were profitable on the gross transaction-price comparison, with average annualised gains of around 2.0%.

The project was only handed over in 2024, meaning its resale track record is still relatively young.

Both examples reinforce that a positive resale does not need to produce spectacular returns to indicate that a project is holding its value.

Premium KLCC Addresses Did Not Guarantee Appreciation

The weaker side of the dataset included several projects in KLCC and Mont Kiara — locations normally associated with strong property fundamentals.

At Aria KLCC, five of six matched resales were below previous purchase prices, with average annualised returns of -1.4%.

Several of the affected units had originally been bought directly from the developer at approximately RM1,711 to RM2,000 psf and were later resold in 2025 at around RM1,204 to RM1,606 psf.

The lesson is not that Aria became an undesirable property.

The more relevant issue is entry price.

A buyer who entered during an expensive new-launch phase later had to compete with completed secondary-market stock at different pricing.

Mont Kiara Shows The Same Entry-Price Risk

Agile Mont Kiara produced a similar lesson.

Three of its four matched resales closed below earlier transaction prices, producing an average annualised return of -0.8%.

Neighbouring Pavilion Hilltop showed a comparable pattern, with three of four matched resales at losses and an average annualised return of -0.1%.

Yet average Pavilion Hilltop transaction prices per sq ft increased year-on-year from about RM1,495 in 2024 to RM1,582 in 2025.

That illustrates why market averages and individual owner returns can tell different stories.

A building can show stable or rising current prices while some owners still realise weak returns because they entered at higher historical prices.

Large Projects Can Face Internal Resale Competition

OUG Parklane provides another useful example.

The Old Klang Road development contains 4,225 units across 11 towers, largely using the same 950 sq ft three-bedroom layout.

Among seven matched resales, three sold at gains and four at losses.

High unit counts can create substantial internal competition because many owners may offer similar products at the same time.

This does not automatically make a large development a bad investment, but buyers should account for future resale liquidity and the number of competing units.

New-Launch Rebates Can Distort Transaction Data

Agile Bukit Bintang highlights another complication.

Its matched data appeared to show a very weak average annualised return of -8.2%, with seven of nine tracked transactions below previous recorded prices.

However, EdgeProp found that several units had been recorded initially at gross SPA prices and then transferred months later at prices 20% to 35% lower.

The report attributed this partly to new-launch rebates and discounts being reflected differently when subsequent transactions were registered, meaning the apparent losses did not necessarily represent actual investor losses of that scale.

For buyers reading transaction databases, this is an important warning: recorded SPA price does not always equal the buyer’s effective net purchase price.

Entry Price Matters More Than Simple Labels

The wider dataset provides no simple formula saying freehold beats leasehold, KLCC beats suburban Kuala Lumpur or luxury beats affordable property.

Strong and weak performers appeared across different tenures, locations, price points and developer profiles.

The clearest recurring variable was the price at which an owner entered relative to the market cycle and the price later buyers were willing to pay.

Two owners of almost identical units can therefore experience very different returns if one bought during launch at a premium and the other entered later at a more competitive resale price.

Conclusion: Ask How Fast The Property Appreciated

The most useful takeaway from the 384 matched Kuala Lumpur condo resales is not that six in 10 owners “won”.

It is that many nominal gains accumulated slowly.

With a median annualised return of only 1.2%, falling to 0.5% after further screening, the data suggests much of the Kuala Lumpur condominium resale market was clustered around relatively modest appreciation rather than exceptional investment returns.

For buyers, this changes the question from “Will this property sell for more one day?” to “At my entry price, how hard does this property need to work over the next five, 10 or 15 years?”

Location still matters. So do tenure, quality and developer reputation.

But the resale evidence suggests that entry price and holding period can matter just as much — and sometimes more — than the prestige of the address itself.