The move taken by the government to freeze luxury developments from Nov 1 acts an intervention to stabilise the market.

Second Finance Minister Johari Abdul Ghani said the freeze would be temporary so as to reduce the oversupply of properties in the market.

"We need to put some check on this and once everything comes to normal, the level comes to within a reasonable level, I am sure that we will able to unfreeze all this.

"You can't compare us with any other markets in the world because everyone has uniqueness looking at their own economy. It is not fair to compare us (with them)," he said after the launch of Maybank Islamic Bhd's innovative rent-to-own product, HouzKEY today.

Also present was Maybank Group president and chief executive officer (CEO) Abdul Farid Alias, Maybank Group head of global banking Muzaffar Hisham and Maybank Islamic Bhd CEO Mohamed Rafique Merican.

Johari said the government had yet to receive feedback from property developers’ associations on the move.

"We have not received feedback from them yet...anything they want to change in respect of this move. I think they also realised that (more than) 130,000 units, both completed and under construction now is unsold," he added.

Johari also pointed out that even financial institutions were reluctant to offer financing for high-end residential units.

The government - via a Cabinet decision - has decided to temporarily freeze new approvals for the development of shopping malls, offices, luxury condominiums and serviced apartments priced over RM1 million and above.

The freeze was enforced after Bank Negara Malaysia reported that the country currently has a record-high of unsold residential units, especially for those above RM250,000 category.

According to the central bank, the number of unsold units in the first quarter of 2017 stands at 130,690 units, the highest over the past decade.

- Bernama