Harga minta itu tinggi; walau bagaimanapun, penjual mahu berunding.

Harga minta means asking price.

It is a shortened way of saying harga yang diminta, literally the price that is asked for. In everyday Malay, this kind of shortening is quite common, especially in contexts like buying, selling, property, or bargaining.

So:

• harga = price
• minta = ask/request
• harga minta = asking price

A fuller, more explicit version would be harga yang diminta itu tinggi.

In Malay, demonstratives like ini and itu usually come after the noun, not before it as in English.

So:

• rumah itu = that house / the house
• harga minta itu = that asking price / the asking price

This is normal Malay word order.

English: that price
Malay: harga itu

When the noun phrase is longer, itu still goes at the end:

• harga yang diminta itu = that/the price being asked

Malay often does not use a verb like is/are in simple statements where a noun is described by an adjective.

So:

• Harga minta itu tinggi literally looks like asking price that high
• but it naturally means The asking price is high

This is very common in Malay:

• Rumah itu besar = The house is big
• Makanan ini sedap = This food is delicious
• Dia sibuk = He/She is busy

You do not need adalah here.

Yes, this is a very natural question.

Tinggi literally means high, and Malay often uses it with prices in the same way English does:

• harga tinggi = a high price

Mahal means expensive.

So both are possible, but the nuance is slightly different:

• Harga minta itu tinggi = The asking price is high
• Harga minta itu mahal = The asking price is expensive

In many contexts, tinggi sounds especially natural when talking about the numerical level of a price, while mahal focuses more on the judgment that it costs a lot.

For asking price, tinggi is a very good choice.

Yes. Walau bagaimanapun is a fairly formal or neutral way to say however / nevertheless.

It is very common in writing, news, formal speech, and careful standard Malay.

Other possibilities include:

• namun = however
• tetapi = but
• akan tetapi = however/but, more formal

So in this sentence, walau bagaimanapun fits well because the tone sounds a bit more polished.

It can suggest both, depending on context.

Literally:

• mahu = want
• berunding = negotiate / discuss terms

So penjual mahu berunding literally means the seller wants to negotiate.

But in real usage, especially in buying and selling contexts, it often has the practical sense of:

• the seller is willing to negotiate
• the seller is open to negotiation

So even though mahu literally means want, the natural interpretation here is often closer to willing to.

Because berunding is the normal verb form meaning to negotiate or to discuss together.

The root is runding, but Malay usually adds prefixes to form usable verbs.

Here:

• ber- often forms intransitive verbs or actions done by the subject
• berunding = to negotiate / hold discussions

So:

• penjual mahu berunding = the seller wants to negotiate

Using just runding by itself would not sound right here as the main verb.

Yes, absolutely.

Harga yang diminta itu tinggi is a fuller and very natural version. It may sound a little clearer or more explicit than harga minta itu tinggi.

Compare:

• harga minta itu tinggi = shorter, compact
• harga yang diminta itu tinggi = fuller, more explicit

Both mean essentially the same thing: the asking price is high.

A learner may find harga yang diminta easier to understand at first because it more clearly shows the structure:

• harga = price
• yang diminta = that is being asked

The semicolon links two closely related clauses:

• Harga minta itu tinggi
• walau bagaimanapun, penjual mahu berunding

It works much like English:

The asking price is high; however, the seller is willing to negotiate.

In Malay writing, this punctuation is acceptable, especially in more formal writing. You could also write it as two sentences:

• Harga minta itu tinggi. Walau bagaimanapun, penjual mahu berunding.

That would also be correct.

It can mean either, depending on context.

• penjual = seller / the seller

Malay does not have articles like a and the in the same way English does. So whether it is understood as a seller or the seller depends on the situation.

In this sentence, because the context is already clear, penjual is naturally understood as the seller.

Yes, but the tone changes a little.

• mahu = want / want to
• ingin = desire to / would like to, often a bit more formal or softer
• hendak = want / wish to, sometimes formal, sometimes old-fashioned depending on context

So these are possible:

• penjual mahu berunding
• penjual ingin berunding
• penjual hendak berunding

Among these, mahu is very natural and common in everyday standard Malay. In a bargaining context, it sounds straightforward and idiomatic.

Yes, it is natural, especially in a somewhat formal or written style.

It reads like something you might see in:

• an advertisement
• a property listing
• a business note
• a formal description of sale terms

If you wanted a more conversational version, you might hear something like:

• Harga yang diminta memang tinggi, tapi penjual boleh dirunding.
• Harga minta tu tinggi, tapi penjual nak berunding.

But the original sentence is correct and natural in standard Malay.