Influence of feng shui factors on house buying intention of Malaysian Chinese

This paper aims to explore the influence of feng shui factors on the house buying intention of Malaysian Chinese. According to the instrumental view of feng shui, prospective purchasers believe that feng shui arrangements can affect luck and fortune. A survey questionnaire based on the 24 criteria in the feng shui design framework was used for data collection from two different locations, namely Kuala Lumpur and Sandakan. The respondents cited feng shui as the third important factor in buying a house. Chi-square tests of independence show that there is a significant relationship between location of respondents and housing price, whereas location of respondents has no significant relationships with the other criteria for buying a house such as feng shui consideration. Independent-samples t tests were conducted to investigate if the respondents' perceptions on the favourability of feng shui factors from the two locations were significantly different. The respondents indicated that houses with sea view, solid wood front door, of regular shape and well-lit living room as favourable. Whereas a house facing a cemetery, built on land with an irregular shape, with a smaller main door and bedroom located at the end of corridor have been found to be the most unfavourable for surrounding environment, external layout, internal layout and interior arrangement respectively. Both chi-square test of independence and independent samples t tests show that the perceptions of feng shui between the respondents from Kuala Lumpur and Sandakan are not significantly different from each other despite geographical differences. The findings can be used by property developers in their future property developments and by architects when designing houses.