This article first appeared in Forum, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on April 13, 2026 - April 19, 2026

Do you dream of owning your own home? You’re not alone.

Boston Consulting Group’s (BCG) survey titled “MY Impian: Uncovering the Malaysian Dream” questioned 1,501 adults across age, income and region, asking Malaysians to choose the five dreams they most aspire to achieve over the next 10 years.

A home to call one’s own emerged as one of the leading dreams, with “have a home that suits my needs” ranking fifth out of 16 dreams, selected by 43% of respondents. Only financial freedom (67%), physical and mental well-being (66%), having a cash buffer for emergencies (57%) and ensuring support for family (45%) ranked higher.

This result is striking, showing that a suitable home is close behind those critical dreams that speak directly to money and health. What’s more, the framework for that dream is shared regardless of income level. Roughly half of all respondents — 51% of lower-income households, 55% of the aspiring middle, 56% of the affluent — identified owning a home in the next 10 years as a “very important” goal.

Age tells a similar story. Millennials are most likely to be homeowners, yet 55% of Gen Z respondents also rated owning a house within the next 10 years as “very important”, virtually matching baby boomers.

This insight is largely at odds with prevailing assumptions in advanced economies, where younger cohorts are thought to prize flexibility over the commitment of homeownership. What our findings reveal, in contrast, is that young Malaysians demonstrate the same keen interest in homeownership that their parents did at the same life stage.

That’s not to say the desire for homeownership is universal. Half of respondents cited the “long debt burden” as a reason it was not important for them, with this debt anxiety cutting across the income ladder.

Attitudes to homeownership are nuanced. Among the lower-income and aspiring households, 40% pointed out that rent is cheaper than owning — a pragmatic reading of monthly cash flow. For the middle-income “emerging” segment, the next biggest worry is the upfront cost of purchase, cited by one-third of respondents. Affluent households factor in other considerations, with half (52%) of them preferring the flexibility of renting while 28% noting unease about future price movements.

Our survey also allowed us to gauge how far households are prepared to stretch their budgets to pay for housing, using the benchmark spending of 30% of personal income.

Respondents were asked whether they would be willing to spend more than 30% of their monthly income on rent and, separately, on a housing loan instalment. The answers offered a fascinating contrast.

A sizeable share of Malaysians — both renters and owners — are prepared to spend beyond this threshold.

When asked whether they would be willing to devote more than this to rent, two-thirds (63%) of lower-income households said yes, compared with one-third (35%) of affluent households. Willingness was high for housing loan instalments as well, with 61% of lower-income households and 52% of affluent households answering in the affirmative. The main distinction here is not whether households stretch but what kind of housing payment they are more willing to stretch for as incomes rise.

An important factor to consider is whether spending feels like building an asset or a recurring expense. Higher-income households, with greater buffers and easier access to credit, appear more inclined to accept a higher housing outlay when those payments are tied to ownership and equity. Half (52%) of affluent respondents would exceed the 30% line for a loan instalment while only 35% would do so for rent. In other words, they are more willing to stretch when the payment is perceived as contributing to longer-term wealth.

The picture is more constrained for lower-income households. Their willingness to cross the 30% threshold is high for both rent and loan payments, suggesting that housing absorbs a significant share of the household budget regardless of tenure. The fact that nearly two-thirds would exceed 30% for rent points to the immediacy of shelter needs and limited room to trade down without sacrificing space, location or basic quality.

As a comparison, in the US, 49.7% of renter households spent more than 30% of income on housing costs in 2024. In the UK, on average, 71% of private renters in the lowest two income quintiles spent more than 30% of their gross household income on rent in 2024.

Malaysians’ stated willingness to cross 30% — especially among lower-income renters — is of a similar order of magnitude to the cost burden seen in the US and UK. The difference lies in what it signals. In many advanced economies, crossing this line is typically seen as stress. In the MY Impian survey of Malaysians, a large share of respondents indicate they are prepared to tolerate it, suggesting households may already be accustomed to tight housing budgets.

Pushing beyond the question of purchase versus rent, we went further to examine the three factors that most influence the respective decision.

For would-be buyers, price is unchallenged at the top (72%) but resilience to natural disasters now sits in third place (47%), essentially tied with property type (48%). In other words, many buyers are no longer satisfied with just four walls and a roof — they want confidence the roof will stay above the waterline.

Renters think differently. Price still dominates (69%) and type of property follows (40%). However, the standout second variable is the reputation of the developer or landlord — cited by almost half (44%) of respondents — well ahead of size, layout or even location.

Short-term tenants recognise they have little control over capital gains or resale value. Instead, they prize a name they trust to keep fittings, appliances and facilities such as working lifts properly maintained. Resilience matters to them too but less so (31%). In a rental, fixing damage is someone else’s problem — provided that “someone else” is dependable.

These patterns reinforce a broader shift. Ownership decisions are increasingly designed to hedge against climate while rental decisions are a vote on trust.

Developers that can certify flood protection and insurers that can bundle affordable coverage will command attention from buyers. Landlords who cultivate a clean maintenance record and transparent contracts will win the rental market, even if their units are modest in size.

Price may open the conversation but confidence — in bricks, in drainage, in people — now closes the deal.

The dream has evolved but the aspiration of securing a home to call your own remains a guiding light for Malaysians.

Nurlin Mohd Salleh is managing director and partner, and head of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) Malaysia. She would like to thank Amir Khaled (associate, BCG) for contributing his insights to this article.

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