New launch price list explained: the price on the brochure, the price in your contract and the price you actually pay in Malaysia

The net price is the real price. The SPA price is the legal price. The 'from' price is the cheapest unit type, which is rarely the one you want. A worked example with round numbers, so you can see how the three relate:

The example percentages are illustrative; the shape is universal. Notice that the SPA carries RM520,000, the rebate lives in a separate letter, and the bank works from RM494,000. The 'from RM' figure on our project pages is the developer's net package price for the lowest-priced unit type in the project, quoted exactly as listed, so it tells you where the project starts, not what your two-bedroom on a high floor costs. Every buyer of the same unit type on the same day gets the same list price and the same package; the package changes over a launch's life (early phases and clearing stock differ), which is the only reason two neighbours ever paid differently.

Mostly costs you would otherwise pay in cash at signing, converted into things the developer pays instead. The common items, and what each one is worth to you:

• SPA legal fees absorbed. The developer pays its panel lawyer to prepare your SPA. You may still appoint your own lawyer, at your own cost.
• Loan agreement legal fees absorbed. Same idea for the bank's loan documents.
• Stamp duty on the SPA, the transfer or the loan. Sometimes all three, sometimes only the loan. Read the letter; 'stamp duty absorbed' rarely means every stamp duty. First-time buyer exemptions are a government scheme, not part of the developer's package; the current 2026 position is in stamp duty 2026.
• Rebate or cashback. A percentage of the price, credited against instalments or refunded after a stage. Ask when it is paid and by whom; a rebate paid at VP is worth less to your cash flow than one netted off the first 10%.
• Furnishing or 'ID package'. Kitchen cabinets, air-conditioners, water heaters, sometimes wardrobes. Get the item list in writing; the show unit is not the list. See show unit checklist.
• Free maintenance for a period, free car park, free club membership. Small, and worth reading the fine print on: 'free maintenance' usually means the developer pays your charges for a set number of months after VP.

One thing a package can never contain: a payment outside the statutory schedule. Regulation 11(2) of the 1989 Regulations says a housing developer shall not collect any payment by whatever name called except as prescribed by the contract of sale. That covers booking fees too, which is why the refund rules in booking fee refund exist. The other sales-gallery moves that are not part of a package are in developer sales tricks.

Because the rebate sits outside the contract, and because the higher contract price has three knock-on effects you should know about before you sign.

1. Your loan is sized on the net price, not the SPA price. Banks lend on the lower of the price and their own valuation (PropCashflow's LTV guide, updated 6 March 2026), and Bank Negara's rule is that the loan-to-value ratio is computed on the net selling price after all discounts and rebates (Loanstreet, January 2026). In the example above, 90% of RM494,000 is RM444,600; nobody lends 90% of RM520,000. The margin itself is up to 90% for your first two housing loans and 70% from the third outstanding loan, per the same PropCashflow guide, with the detail in the 70% rule. So your cash down payment is 10% of the net price plus whatever the package does not cover.
2. Stamp duty and future taxes are assessed on the SPA price. Transfer stamp duty is charged on the consideration or market value, whichever is higher, and the consideration is the SPA figure. If the package pays the stamp duty this does not cost you now; if it does not, a padded SPA price costs you real money. When you sell, your acquisition price on record is also the SPA price.
3. The SPA price is also the base for your protection. Late delivery compensation under Schedule H is 10% a year of the purchase price, so a higher SPA price means a slightly higher LAD claim if the project is late (see LAD claims).

One legal discount exists and it is not a package item: the Bumiputera lot discount, a state housing policy applied to units reserved under the Bumiputera quota, with resale restrictions on the title. It is a separate thing from the developer's package and is explained in Bumi lot vs non-Bumi lot.

Net price per square foot against transacted resale price per square foot, both with the buying costs added back. The two numbers are built differently, so a brochure figure set beside a listing-portal asking price tells you nothing. To make them comparable:

1. Turn the new launch into a net psf. Net price divided by built-up area. Remember the built-up includes the balcony and air-con ledge, so check the layout as well: how to read a condo floor plan.
2. Use transacted resale prices, not asking prices. Asking prices on portals are opening bids. Registered transactions are what buyers actually paid; our area price pages, compiled by Affirm Plus Research, list medians by building for that reason.
3. Add the costs each side does not include. Resale: your own SPA legal fees, transfer stamp duty, loan fees and usually an agent fee, all in cash. New launch: progressive interest during construction and up to three years of paying a loan on a home you cannot live in. The cash list is in cash needed for a RM500k condo.
4. Compare like with like. A completed resale unit in a ten-year-old block and a new launch three years from keys are different products even at the same psf. The full trade-off is in new launch vs subsale condo.

Who should not be swayed by a big package: anyone whose decision rests on the package rather than the net psf. A large rebate on a high list price and a small rebate on a fair list price can land at the same net price; the second one leaves you with a cleaner SPA figure and less stamp duty exposure.