KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 — Putrajaya hopes a property expo in March will help increase sales of the near RM22.5 billion in unsold property here, Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin has said.

The expo scheduled for March 1 to 3 will see 180 developers offer up 22,000 units at a discounted rate in hopes of overcoming the current property overhang in the country and reduce the gap in price to make those properties affordable to the average Malaysian.

"We hope that better discounts will be given to the people, as high as possible,” Zuraida was quoted in financial news site Bloomberg.

"We are trying to reduce the gap starting from the expo. From then on we will try to clean up,” she added.

A combination of excess supply and domestic cooling measures have been the reasons for the slow sales in the property.

Bank Negara Malaysia had previously disclosed data showing home prices to have been "seriously unaffordable” by international standard, reportedly five times over the annual median household income in 2016.

The rate is above the global average of three times the annual median income.

The central bank estimated that RM282,000 is the maximum price that an average Malaysian household can afford, with the current actual median price of houses 11 per cent above average.

Zuraida was also quoted confirming that her ministry will consider the income levels of a particular area before approving future residential projects.

She also reportedly said her ministry is in the midst of drafting the Residential Rental Act to protect the rights of tenants and landlords and attend to issues of racial discrimination and quotas for the majority Malays.