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Feng Shui principles and the Feng Shui in

property
Malaysian housing market: what selection and
pricing
matters in property selection
and pricing?
Jeffrey Boon Hui Yap and Kah Chuan Lum Received 7 January 2020
Revised 9 March 2020
Department of Surveying, Lee Kong Chian Faculty of Engineering and Science, 15 April 2020
Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Kajang, Malaysia Accepted 21 May 2020

Abstract
Purpose – This study aims to investigate Feng Shui elements that can influence housing selection and
property pricing in the Malaysian housing market.
Design/methodology/approach – A structured questionnaire encompassing 26 Feng Shui elements, which
were shortlisted based on relevant previous studies, was distributed to prospective homebuyers in the Klang
Valley region. The elements were inferred and ranked according to frequency, significance and importance
scores. Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA tests were used to assess the ratings provided by the different respondent
groups, while Spearman’s rank correlation tests were utilised to measure the degree of agreement or
disagreement among each pair of the ethnic group.
Findings – The results obtained indicate the following as the five most influential elements: orientation, main
entrance, street location, house number and living room. Despite a multiethnic and multicultural society in
Malaysia, Spearman’s rank correlation tests showed that there are no differences in the prioritisation of Feng
Shui elements between three distinct ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese and Indian). However, the distribution
scores are statistically different between the groups. Comparing income level with Feng Shui inclinations, the
three most frequently considered elements across the three income groups consistently include orientation,
main entrance and street location.
Practical implications – The findings of this study are expected to provide guidance to property
stakeholders (developers, real estate agencies, architects, local authorities) in their future development projects.
For homebuyers, this study serves as a property Feng Shui checklist for home selection and investment.
Originality/value – This study explored the association of Feng Shui principles to housing selection and
property pricing based on cultural and income factors. These findings provide useful insights for designing
and positioning of residential properties in both primary and secondary housing markets in Malaysia and
beyond.
Keywords Feng Shui, Housing price, Residential design, Housing market, Buyer’s perception, Malaysia
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Feng Shui aims to conceive an ideal status so that people and houses may exist in a dynamic state of
balance and harmony. (Lu, 2000, p. 365)
Feng Shui literally means “wind” and “water” translated from the Mandarin characters. It is
considered as an abstract, invisible and untouchable matter (Tam et al., 1999). In Chinese
culture, wind and water are associated with good health, thus good Feng Shui is often
attributed to good fortune. Being one of the ancient arts of Chinese geomancy, the principles of
Feng Shui consider the Earth, sky and people as a whole. By implementing Feng Shui principles
in housing development, it can create harmony between humans and the nature of the
surrounding environment (Zwain and Bahauddin, 2015). According to Erdogan and Erdogan
Property Management
The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive and insightful © Emerald Publishing Limited
0263-7472
comments which have helped improve the quality of this manuscript. DOI 10.1108/PM-01-2020-0001
PM (2014), the wind and water have created the mountains, rivers and plants in the world.
Therefore, when choosing a living place, people should consider the natural rules. However,
Feng Shui is quite subjective. For those who believe in Feng Shui will firmly believe that staying
in a better Feng Shui place will bring good health and fortune. Whereas for those who do not
believe in Feng Shui will treat it as superstition and nonsense (Chang and Lin, 2015).
Table 1 encapsulates the definition of Feng Shui as emphasised by various authors.
Feng Shui can be referred to as the landscape of a place literally. The physical components
of the landscape, such as rivers and hills, can be classified into one of the five elements, which
are fire, earth, metal, water and wood. The components of landscape will produce invisible
energy, which is called Chi. It can be auspicious or inauspicious, depending on the
components and the orientation. The components of landscape and the Chi produced should
be in balance and harmony in order to achieve a good Feng Shui (Luk et al., 2012). When all the
five elements are represented in the landscape equally, a state of balance and harmony is
achieved. However, the overall Feng Shui will be inauspicious if the balance is disturbed due
to the absence of one of the five elements or one of the five elements dominating the landscape.
In Feng Shui, the living Chi is believed to be beneficial to human health and wealth,
whereas the dying Chi will be detrimental to human health and wealth. People still can see the
“direct” appearance of Chi through many manifestations on Earth, even though it is invisible
and impalpable. The Chi that flows on the ground surface is called “water” and the Chi that
moves along the underground passages is called “dragon veins”. In addition, the Chi that
grows with trees and vegetation is called “fur of Earth”. The ancient Chinese had established
six basic conditions that constitute an “ideal” living environment, such as the main
mountains at the back, surrounding hills, water nearby the site, the orientation of site,
prosperous forest and the requirements for landscape and architectural interventions. The
objective of these six basic conditions is to issue shelter and remedy the shortcomings of
landscape in order to enhance the accumulation of good Chi, avoid the dispersion and
minimise the aggression of detrimental Chi (Zhong and Ceranic, 2008). On the other hand,
there is negative and harmful energy, which is Sha Chi, believed to produce some detrimental
effects on the occupants. According to Chang and Lin (2015), there are two types of Sha Chi:
namely Wai Sha and Nei Sha. Wai Sha means the outer negative energy from outside

Authors Definition

(Hornby (2015), p. 570)
(Mak and Ng (2009), p. 129)
(Madeddu and Zhang (2017),
p. 4)
(Hwangbo (1999), p. 191)
(Zhong and Ceranic (2008),
p. 47)
(Chiouu and Krishnamurti
(1997), p. 550)
Table 1. (Ogilvie et al. (2018), p. 1)
Feng Shui definition
from various authors
“A Chinese system for deciding the right position for a building and for
placing objects inside a building in order to make people feel comfortable
and happy”
“A body of ancient Chinese knowledge that aims at creating a harmony
between environment, buildings and people”
“A system of thoughts which aims to select favourable sites to position
cities, buildings and graves in a harmonious relationship with their
environment”
“A melange of art and science which governs design issues of architecture
and planning, embracing a wide range of disciplines of human interest”
“An ancient Chinese practice for achieving harmony and balance with one’s
environment; in choosing a place to live, siting a grave, planning a farm,
even arranging furniture in a room”
“The art of adapting buildings, rooms, and furniture so as to achieve a
maximum of harmony with nature, particularly its local environment and
climatic conditions”
“Feng Shui, or wind water, is a traditional Chinese worldview regarding the
art of spatial alignment and orientation, and the relationship between
humans and their environment”
surrounding facilities, such as mountains or hills, nearby buildings and public infrastructure. Feng Shui in
Nei Sha means the inner negative energy from the internal layout of the house, such as the property
layout design, the dividers, interior arrangement and the displays. However, Nei Sha is easier
to improve by the decorating the interior or adjusting the furniture compared to Wai Sha, as
selection and
the components concerning in the Wai Sha are harder to change. Sha will occur when there is pricing
a corridor without obstruction where the Chi can flow fast. In this regard, the harshest Sha
occurs when there is a pointed or sharp edge, which is called the “poison arrow” in Feng Shui.
For example, Too (2016, p. 150) claimed that an exposed structural beam in the house will
create the “poison arrow” and tends to have the effect of “pressing down” on the luck of
occupants.
There are some studies that discuss how Feng Shui influences people’s daily lives,
especially the housing demand. Some of the Western architectures and interior designs have
integrated Feng Shui principles into the design of their projects. According to Zhong and
Ceranic (2008), Foster and Partners (an award-winning British architectural design and
engineering firm) has consulted with Feng Shui consultant at the design stage of the Hong
Kong and Shanghai Bank Headquarters in order to adapt to the beliefs of different customers
and subsequent commercial realities. Besides that, Walt Disney also consulted Feng Shui
experts when constructing Hong Kong Disneyland, whereby the main entrance needed to be
shifted 12 degrees in order to maximise prosperity. In New Zealand, Bourassa and Peng
(1999) observed a positive association between hedonic prices and house numbers whereby
lucky numbers are capitalised into house values.
A living place is necessary for all, and it is an expensive commodity. A housing purchase is
certainly a complex decision-making. When purchasing a residential property, several
factors are being considered by the homebuyer. One of the factors that people are concerned
with is the Feng Shui of the property. In this modern society, urban residents live a hectic life
in a stressful environment, which tend to lead to frustration. Therefore, people tend to
capitalise on the principles of Feng Shui to enhance well-being, avoid bad luck and invite good
fortune to the household. Chinese people believe good Feng Shui in a home has a positive
energy that can improve the occupants’ health, wealth and fortune due to the achievement of
equilibrium among nature, building and people (Mak and Ng, 2005).
Notwithstanding the pervasiveness of Feng Shui practices in the built environment, the
link between Feng Shui principles and residential property prices is not known, particularly
in a multi-cultural and multi-religious society. It is worth noting that most previous studies
have explored the decision-making attributes in purchasing a residential property such as
home amenities, location, developer, structural factors and neighbourhood preferences (e.g.
Tan, 2011; Thaker and Sakaran, 2016; Yap et al., 2019b; a). The primary factors affecting
purchase decision in Malaysia are locational, financial and structural (Saw and Tan, 2014).
Likewise in Indonesia, the key considerations encompass physical qualities, concept and
location (Rahadi et al., 2015). Another Malaysian study by Thaker and Sakaran (2016), which
employed an analytical hierarchy process approach, observed structural factor which
includes all physical conditions and built quality as significant criteria in residential property
selection. However, their study did not explain which of these structural attributes contribute
the most when making homeownership decisions. Investigating the relationship between
housing value and buyers’ preferences in Jakarta, Indonesia, Rahadi et al. (2013) found that
design plays a prominent part in housing price. Again, this study failed to detail the key
design requirements that the customers wanted. As highlighted by Mak and Ng (2008), there
is a lack of properly documented Feng Shui principles and guidelines in the current literature.
Hence, it is difficult for property developers and designers to exploit Feng Shui knowledge in
their building design. Lin et al.’s (2012) Taiwanese study focuses on how bad Feng Shui such
as location on a dead-end road, near a viaduct, temple, cemetery or on the fourth floor can
lower housing prices. However, they failed to consider how good Feng Shui elements can
 减轻
PM alleviate housing prices. It is also worth noting that their data are based on a homogeneous
Chinese society which may delimit generalisation to a population with diverse ethnic
background. In another study, Sia et al. (2018) explored the influence of Feng Shui factors on
residential property purchase intention but limited the study to Malaysian Chinese and fell
short on looking at how Feng Shui considerations can affect house prices. Although they
conclude that Feng Shui factors constrain property development and design of houses, the
most considered attributes are not prioritised – leaving a gap on what is the favourable Feng
Shui factors to design and the associated impact to residential property selection and prices.
Summarising the above review, there is an inadequate understanding of how Feng Shui
principles may influence the selection and housing prices in a multi-ethnic society such as
Malaysia. As a corollary, this study aims to make a contribution towards filling these gaps by
identifying the critical Feng Shui elements in the housing market, investigating Feng Shui
perceptions considering the different ethnic background and income levels and examining
the influence of Feng Shui principles on residential property prices.

Feng Shui considerations impacting residential housing selection

The growing population will increase the overall demand for housing in Malaysia,
particularly within the Klang Valley region (Tan, 2012; Thaker and Sakaran, 2016; Yap and
Ng, 2018). According to the third quarter 2019 census, Malaysia’s population is estimated at
32.63 million – an increase of 0.6% as compared to third quarter 2018 (Department of
Statistics Malaysia, 2019). The demographics of Malaysia consist of multiple races and
religions (Mohamad et al., 2019). The largest ethnic groups in Malaysia are the Bumiputras
(consisting of Malays, indigenous people, and natives of Sabah and Sarawak) (69.3%),
Chinese (22.8%), Indians (6.9%) and others (1.0%). About 70% of the population is aged
between 15 and 64 years old (working age). Islam forms almost half of the religious
composition of the population, to which the Malays alone comprise 90.5% of the ethnic
groups, Buddhism 98% of those of Chinese ethnicity and the Indians constituting 98.5% of
Hindus (Mohamad et al., 2019). Approximately 26% of the national population resides in the
states of Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor which make up the Klang Valley region – an
urban agglomeration of nearly 8.5 million people as of 2019 (Department of Statistics
Malaysia, 2019). This is also the most densely populated, urbanised and industrialised region
in the country.
A total of 99,922 residential property transactions worth RM34.65 billion (USD 8.34 billion)
were recorded in H1 2019, an increase of 6.1% in volume and 9.5% in value as compared to H1
2018 (National Property Information Centre (NAPIC), 2019). Given the size and scale of the
real estate market, Feng Shui principles can be capitalised to attract prospective homebuyers
along with creating a harmonious and enriched built environment that can demand a higher
premium in the housing market for a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society. According to
Sia et al. (2018), prominent property development companies in Malaysia consistently engage
the services of geomancers to plan for the favourable external layout, internal layout and
interior arrangement to attract more buyers and demand higher prices.
According to Lu (2000), the house model involves the notion of productive cycle and
destructive cycle for conceiving the auspicious or inauspicious concerns between houses and
occupants. Feng Shui is traditional Chinese wisdom aimed at creating harmony among the
environment, buildings and people (Mak and Ng, 2008). For the living environment, in
particular, the integration of Feng Shui theory provides more good living conditions of
tending auspicious and avoiding bad luck for the occupants (Li, 2014). Table 2 presents the 26
influential Feng Shui elements deliberated in previous studies. These are most frequently
cited elements when investigating Feng Shui in housing and, for the purposes of brevity, are
grouped under four generic headings in the following discussion.
 References
(Goh
(Mak and et al., (Lin et al., (Tse and (Nabila and (Sia et al., (Lu, (Bourassa and (Wu et al., (Geh and
No Elements Ng, 2005) 2018) 2012) Love, 2000) Masayu, 2011) 2018) 2018) Peng, 1999) 2012) Osmadi, 2015)

1 Surrounding environment
1.1 Topography U U U U U
1.2 Front U U U U U U
1.3 Back U U U U U U
1.4 Sides U U U U U
1.5 Street location U U U U U U
1.6 Water view U U U U
1.7 Wind direction U U U
2 External layout
2.1 Shape of site U U U U
2.2 Main entrance U U U U
2.3 Building’s U U U U
shape
2.4 Orientation U U U U U
2.5 Greenery and U U U U
trees
2.6 Ponds U U
3 Internal layout
3.1 Layout U U U U U
3.2 Doors U U U U
3.3 Windows U U U
3.4 Room shape U U U
3.5 Staircases U U U U U
3.6 Ceiling U U U U
4 Interior arrangement
4.1 Door openings U U U
4.2 Bedroom U U

(continued )
property
pricing
selection and
Feng Shui in

considerations by
Summary of Feng Shui
Table 2.

previous studies
 PM

Table 2.
References
(Goh
(Mak and et al., (Lin et al., (Tse and (Nabila and (Sia et al., (Lu, (Bourassa and (Wu et al., (Geh and
No Elements Ng, 2005) 2018) 2012) Love, 2000) Masayu, 2011) 2018) 2018) Peng, 1999) 2012) Osmadi, 2015)

4.3 Kitchen U U U
4.4 Living room U U
4.5 Bathroom U U U U
5 Numbers
5.1 House number U U U
5.2 Floor level U U
Surrounding environment Feng Shui in
When considering the site for a housing development project, the first factor to be evaluated is property
the external factor. This aspect considers the surrounding environment from a geographical
perspective, such as topography of the site, geographical features, mountains, watercourses,
selection and
directions and road structures. Nowadays, it is very difficult to find a site surrounded by pricing
mountains, hills or river in the town and city area. However, the mountains and hills can be
represented by surrounding buildings or trees, and the roads represent the watercourses
(Too, 1999). According to Lin et al. (2012), a family that lives in a house located at “Lu-Chun”
will be more likely to lose money and easily get injured. Lu-Chun means a residential unit
facing a direct way of the road. Besides that, people who live in a house located at a dead-end
road will have fewer opportunities to obtain wealth and fame due to the Chi which cannot
flow freely, and thus there may be stagnant Chi. Lin et al. (2012) also opine that if a house is
close to the viaduct, it will seem to be cut by viaduct which will cause the family members to
feel uncomfortable and difficult to fall asleep. The scene of the cemetery in front of the site is
often a sign of bad fortune as it is related to death and thus regarded as bad luck (Tse and
Love, 2000). Houses near the cemetery will gather Yin Chi easily and is a negative housing
attribute (Lin et al., 2012; Sia et al., 2018).

External layout
The external shapes and exterior space of building will be considered in this aspect including
the shape of the site, the entrance, architectural geometry, landscaping and plants. For the
shape of site factor, regular shapes such as square, rectangular, circular and octagonal shapes
are always more preferable because Chi can be channelled more efficiently and reduce
turbulence. Diamond, parallelogram and trapezoid site are also acceptable provided that the
front of the house is parallel to the street. For the trapezoid shape of the site, the taper or
narrow side should be towards the back as this will allow prosperity due to front being wider.
Whereas if the taper or narrow side is in front, the energy gathered will become less and will
cause a loss of money. In the irregular shape of the site, the house should be protected from
sharp angles and corner by planting trees as it can block the Sha Chi (Too, 2012). The
orientation of a house is one of the main considerations, as it will affect sunlight penetration
and air ventilation. Normally, the houses facing south are more preferable because they are
not directly hit by the afternoon sun (Lu, 2018). Greenery and trees are related to vitality and
act as a regulator to maintain and regulate energy flow when the site is being drained.
Greenery and trees can act as a barrier against the Sha Chi, block unnecessary light and
protect from sunshine and strong winds. Sha Chi is referred to as destructive force from
cemetery, power station, viaduct, antenna and so on. However, the trees cannot be planted too
close to the house as this will have negative effects on the prosperity. This is also related to
another factor, which is the entrance. If there is any dead tree or stump, it should be removed
or covered with plants, vines or potted plants (Too, 2016).

Internal layout arrangement

Most of the time, people live and work inside a building. Therefore, it is important to evaluate
the internal factors as the quality of life depends on the internal configuration. Although the
architectural design of concept and layout is treated as a whole, the influence of ceiling and
beams, staircase and layout of doors and windows also will have significance in Feng Shui. It
is believed that a staircase with a proper design according to Feng Shui principles will
enhance positive energy and counteract negative energy. Meanwhile, staircase with poor
Feng Shui will limit the positive energy flow and turn it into destructive energy. For that
matter, staircase can be considered similar to a river or a road that the Chi flows horizontally,
whereby staircase channel Chi vertically (Celiker, 2013). In addition, a high-level ceiling will
PM create Yang Chi, whereas the lower level will produce Yin Chi (Celiker, 2013). The
heavy-looking beams exposed at the ceiling will tend to have negative effects on the residents
(Too, 2016).
The door acts as the “mouth” of Chi which allows the flow and circulation. Besides that, it
also represents the freedom and accessibility of residents. The external door of the building
will be more important in Feng Shui as Chi will enter the building through it. There are some
principles that can positively locate the Chi. The front door should be slightly bigger than the
back door in order to allow the beneficial Chi to enter through the front door and not
immediately exit through the back door. In addition, the size of the external door should be
proportional to the building size which will not let the valuable Chi to escape. The external
door should not be lower than street level because the Chi is restricted and will make the
residents feel unsettled and trapped. The window has the same influence as the door. If the
door is considered as “mouth” of Chi, then the window will be considered as the “eye”. Door
and window should not be aligned because it will allow the Chi to flow into the house and not
exit immediately (Ng, 2016).

House number and floor level

The house address number and the number of the floor level are other important factors
influencing household preferences. For example, the home address with the number of eight
(8) will indicate wealth and fortune as the pronunciation of eight (8) in Mandarin is similar to
rich or prosperity. In contrast, the number of four (4) is considered as a bad luck number since
the pronunciation of four (4) in Mandarin is similar to death (Lin et al., 2012). In Auckland,
New Zealand, Chinese households are willing to pay as high as 4.8% (or NZ$14,200) premium
for houses with lucky numbers (Bourassa and Peng, 1999).

Research design and methodology

A quantitative positivist approach in the form of a self-completion questionnaire was adopted
for data collection. The survey was chosen because it allows a large number of reliable
responses to be elicited from a particular group of people (Collis and Hussey, 2014). Based on
the detailed literature review, a structured questionnaire was designed to contain three parts.
The first part required respondents to provide demographic information including gender,
ethnic background, age group and income bracket. The second part required respondents to
rate the Feng Shui elements of residential buildings based on the frequency of consideration.
For each element, the respondents were asked the following question. How frequent are these
Feng Shui elements being considered in residential buildings? The extent of consideration
was rated on a five-point Likert scale, where 1 5 never, 3 5 sometimes and 5 5 always.
Finally, in the third part, the following question was asked. How significant are these Feng
Shui elements affecting the pricing for residential buildings? Here, another five-point Likert
scale was utilised, where 1 5 not significant, 3 5 moderate and 5 5 extremely significant.
The questionnaire was first piloted with 30 selected respondents to ascertain the
feasibility of the research instrument. The population in this study comprised potential
homebuyers in Malaysia. The sampling frame comprised homebuyers based in Klang Valley
region which includes Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor – the highest populated region
among all the other states in Malaysia (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2019). As such,
urban housing demand is the highest in this region (Thaker and Sakaran, 2016; Yap and Ng,
2018). In the main study, 300 questionnaires were distributed by hand and through emails.
Over a period of six weeks, a total of 133 valid responses were collected, attaining a
consolidated response rate of 40.3%, which is consistent with previous studies (Saw and Tan,
2014; Yap et al., 2019a, b) and adequate for reliable statistical analysis (Moser and
Kalton, 1971).
 Table 3 shows the demographic profile of the respondents, with 58.6% of the respondents Feng Shui in
are male and the remaining 41.4% are female respondents. The respondents are evenly property
distributed with regard to the different ethnic background. The majority of the respondents
(83%) are of Generation Y (currently with the age between 19 and 38 years) and income group
selection and
of RM 3,000 to RM 6,274 (71%). These are the group of people actively looking at the housing pricing
market for suitable homes.

Data analysis approach

To measure the internal consistency of the designed questionnaire, Cronbach’s alpha was
computed. The values of 0.941 and 0.957 were obtained for the frequency of elements being
considered and significance of elements affecting property pricing, respectively, which is
exceeding 0.70 to indicate high internal consistency (Hair et al., 2010).
The survey data were further analysed using mean score techniques based on ethnic
(Malay, Chinese and Indian) groups. Frequency score (FS) expresses consideration frequency
by homebuyers, while significance score (SS) expresses the significance of element that
influenced property price. A non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA test is further
employed to evaluate the perceptions of different respondents according to ethnic groups for
both FS and SS. And finally, the importance score (IMP.S) integrates both FS and SS in order
to determine the criticality of each element using the following formula:
IMP:S ¼ FS 3 SS (1)

Findings and discussions

Ranked in ascending order, Table 4 and Table 5 present the FS and SS of 26 Feng Shui
elements along with their rankings based on ethnic groups. Figures 1–3, respectively, contain
the average FS, SS and IMP.S according to the category of elements. For FS, the five most
frequently considered elements by the Malays are:
(1) Living room (3.26)
(2) Orientation (3.07)
(3) Room shape (3.00)
(4) Main entrance (2.98)
(5) Bedroom (2.93)

Parameter Category Frequency ðN ¼ 133Þ Percentage (%)

Gender Male 78 58.6

Female 55 41.4
Ethnic Malay 43 32.3
Chinese 50 37.6
Indian 40 30.1
Age 19–38 years old (Gen Y) 110 82.7
39–54 years old (Gen X) 18 13.5
55–72 years old (Baby boomer) 5 3.8
Income RM3,000 – RM6,274 (Bottom) 95 71.4 Table 3.
RM6,275 – RM13,147 (Middle) 35 26.3 Demographic profile of
RM13,148 and above (Top) 3 2.3 respondents
 PM

Table 4.

ethnic group
Feng Shui elements
Frequency scores of

considered by different
Overall ðN ¼ 133Þ Malay ðN ¼ 43Þ Chinese ðN ¼ 50Þ Indian ðN ¼ 40Þ Kruskal–Wallis
No Elements FS SD Rank FS SD Rank FS SD Rank FS SD Rank Chi-square Asymp. Sig

1 Surrounding environment
1.5 Street location 3.59 0.906 3 2.79 0.559 9 3.92 0.829 4 4.03 0.733 1 51.960 0.000**
1.2 Front 2.99 0.821 13 2.53 0.667 20 3.64 0.749 6 2.67 0.474 16 50.998 0.000**
1.1 Topography 2.90 0.727 17 2.56 0.629 17 3.34 0.772 14 2.73 0.452 14 29.984 0.000**
1.3 Back 2.79 0.844 20 2.35 0.613 23 3.28 0.948 16 2.65 0.580 17 28.084 0.000**
1.6 Water view 2.68 1.003 21 2.40 0.660 21 3.44 1.013 12 2.05 0.639 23 47.325 0.000**
1.4 Sides 2.45 0.821 23 2.14 0.560 25 3.04 0.880 21 2.05 0.504 22 43.963 0.000**
1.7 Wind direction 2.29 0.877 26 2.05 0.532 26 2.70 1.093 24 2.05 0.677 24
2 External layout
2.4 Orientation 3.65 0.905 1 3.07 0.799 2 4.08 0.853 1 3.75 0.742 5 29.016 0.000**
2.2 Main entrance 3.61 0.903 2 2.98 0.771 4 3.94 0.793 3 3.88 0.822 3 32.079 0.000**
2.3 Building’s shape 2.95 0.895 16 2.77 0.841 11 3.54 0.838 10 2.42 0.549 18 36.166 0.000**
2.5 Greenery and trees 2.89 0.741 18 2.65 1.021 15 3.16 0.584 17 2.83 0.385 13 9.461 0.009**
2.1 Shape of site 2.37 0.883 24 2.19 0.588 24 2.86 1.069 23 1.95 0.552 25 23.742 0.000**
2.6 Ponds 2.32 0.901 25 2.56 0.854 19 2.68 0.768 25 1.62 0.705 26 35.416 0.000**
3 Internal layout
3.1 Layout 3.12 1.045 8 2.81 0.906 8 4.00 0.782 2 2.35 0.580 19 62.879 0.000**
3.6 Ceiling 3.09 0.802 9 2.84 0.754 6 3.32 0.978 15 3.08 0.474 11 8.177 0.017*
3.2 Doors 3.00 0.816 11 2.65 0.650 14 3.14 0.969 19 3.20 0.648 8 14.904 0.001**
3.4 Room shape 2.99 0.957 14 3.00 0.787 3 3.52 0.953 11 2.32 0.694 20 34.517 0.000**
3.5 Staircases 2.80 0.860 19 2.60 0.791 16 2.66 0.982 26 3.18 0.636 9 16.461 0.000**
3.3 Windows 2.62 0.927 22 2.56 0.700 18 3.08 0.986 20 2.10 0.778 21 22.163 0.000**
4 Interior arrangement
4.4 Living room 3.50 0.724 4 3.26 0.621 1 3.88 0.799 5 3.30 0.516 7 22.837 0.000**
4.2 Bedroom 3.24 0.889 7 2.93 0.799 5 3.56 0.884 9 3.18 0.874 10 12.217 0.002**
4.1 Door openings 3.02 1.135 10 2.40 0.929 22 2.88 1.100 22 3.85 0.864 4 37.352 0.000**
4.5 Bathroom 2.99 0.691 12 2.81 0.588 7 3.16 0.955 18 2.98 0.158 12 4.690 0.096
4.3 Kitchen 2.96 0.839 15 2.77 0.812 10 3.36 0.942 13 2.68 0.474 15 16.249 0.000**
5 Numbers
5.1 House number 3.45 1.026 5 2.74 0.581 13 3.62 1.141 8 4.00 0.816 2 38.856 0.000**
5.2 Floor level 3.26 0.953 6 2.74 0.492 12 3.64 1.005 7 3.35 1.027 6 21.612 0.000**
Note(s): ** the mean difference is significant at the 0.01 level; * the mean different is significant at the 0.05 level
 Overall ðN ¼ 133Þ Malay ðN ¼ 43Þ Chinese ðN ¼ 50Þ Indian ðN ¼ 40Þ Kruskal–Wallis
No Elements SS SD Rank SS SD Rank SS SD Rank SS SD Rank Chi-square Asymp. Sig

1 Surrounding environment
1.5 Street location 3.44 0.916 3 2.98 0.740 2 3.78 1.016 3 3.50 0.751 5 18.318 0.000**
1.2 Front 2.95 0.956 11 2.63 1.047 11 3.42 0.883 11 2.70 0.687 15 20.066 0.000**
1.1 Topography 2.92 0.826 12 2.58 0.763 12 3.42 0.859 10 2.65 0.483 16 33.991 0.000**
1.6 Water view 2.89 1.096 13 2.51 0.768 15 3.62 1.210 6 2.40 0.709 22 31.404 0.000**
1.3 Back 2.65 0.879 20 2.33 0.919 21 3.00 0.948 19 2.58 0.549 18 13.875 0.001**
1.4 Sides 2.47 0.784 25 2.14 0.743 23 2.82 0.850 23 2.40 0.545 21 18.152 0.000**
1.7 Wind direction 2.25 0.820 26 2.12 0.697 25 2.68 0.913 24 1.85 0.533 26 28.492 0.000**
2 External layout
2.4 Orientation 3.56 0.988 1 2.91 0.811 4 4.18 0.962 1 3.47 0.679 6 37.712 0.000**
2.2 Main entrance 3.50 1.012 2 2.86 0.941 6 3.72 0.970 4 3.90 0.810 2 25.888 0.000**
2.3 Building’s shape 2.87 0.856 15 2.70 0.741 9 3.42 0.835 9 2.38 0.586 23 36.506 0.000**
2.5 Greenery and trees 2.84 0.684 16 2.63 0.757 10 3.08 0.695 17 2.78 0.480 13 10.104 0.006**
2.1 Shape of site 2.55 0.957 22 2.40 0.760 19 3.14 1.050 15 1.98 0.530 25 37.086 0.000**
2.6 Ponds 2.50 0.858 24 2.49 0.798 16 2.84 0.889 22 2.08 0.694 24 18.604 0.000**
3 Internal layout
3.1 Layout 3.17 0.965 9 2.88 0.879 5 3.92 0.829 2 2.55 0.504 19 52.850 0.000**
3.4 Room shape 2.98 0.802 10 2.77 0.812 8 3.36 0.851 12 2.72 0.506 14 17.180 0.000**
3.6 Ceiling 2.83 0.783 17 2.44 0.734 18 3.12 0.918 16 2.88 0.404 11 21.419 0.000**
3.2 Doors 2.79 1.023 18 2.05 0.785 26 2.98 0.937 20 3.35 0.893 7 41.919 0000**
3.5 Staircase 2.64 0.721 21 2.53 0.702 13 2.60 0.881 26 2.80 0.464 12 6.591 0.037*
3.3 Windows 2.53 0.926 23 2.14 0.804 24 2.94 0.935 21 2.45 0.846 20 18.737 0.000**
4 Interior arrangement
4.4 Living room 3.20 0.919 6 2.93 0.884 3 3.56 0.993 7 3.05 0.714 9 12.306 0.002**
4.2 Bedroom 3.19 0.818 7 3.00 0.787 1 3.36 0.985 13 3.18 0.549 8 5.405 0.067
4.3 Kitchen 3.02 0.788 8 2.79 0.742 7 3.28 1.011 14 2.93 0.267 10 11.135 0.004**
4.1 Door openings 2.89 1.178 14 2.23 0.947 22 2.68 1.115 25 3.85 0.834 3 44.432 0.000**
4.5 Bathroom 2.74 0.895 19 2.47 0.882 17 3.04 1.009 18 2.65 0.622 17 7.891 0.019*
5 Numbers
5.1 House number 3.38 1.120 4 2.51 0.703 14 3.68 1.133 5 3.95 0.904 1 44.974 0.000**
5.2 Floor level 3.22 1.110 5 2.37 0.874 20 3.54 1.034 8 3.72 0.905 4 38.429 0.000**
Note(s): ** the mean difference is significant at the 0.01 level; * the mean different is significant at the 0.05 level
property
pricing
selection and
Feng Shui in

Significance scores of

ethnic group
Feng Shui elements
Table 5.

affecting the property

pricing by different
PM Ethnic
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
Figure 1.
Feng Shui 0.00
considerations in terms Surrounding External layout Internal layout Interior Numbers
of frequency by ethnic environment arrangement
groups
Overall Malay Chinese Indian

Ethnic
4.50
4.00
3.50
3.00
2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
Figure 2.
Feng Shui 0.00
considerations in terms Surrounding External layout Internal layout Interior Numbers
of significance by environment arrangement
ethnic groups
Overall Malay Chinese Indian

Ethnic
16.00
14.00
12.00
10.00
8.00
6.00
4.00
2.00
Figure 3.
Feng Shui 0.00
considerations in terms Surrounding External layout Internal layout Interior Numbers
of importance by ethnic environment arrangement
groups
Overall Malay Chinese Indian
The equivalent for Chinese are: Feng Shui in
(1) Orientation (4.08) property
(2) Layout (4.00)
selection and
pricing
(3) Main entrance (3.94)
(4) Street location (3.92)
(5) Living room (3.88)
And for Indians:
(1) Street location (4.03)
(2) House number (4.00)
(3) Main entrance (3.88)
(4) Door openings (3.85)
(5) Orientation (3.75)
It is worth noting that the Malays place greater emphasis on “living room” as compared to the
Chinese and Indians. Intriguingly, the Malays are not particular about the “street location”
but perceived the “room shape” as more important. Nonetheless, only the three leading
elements attained FS marginally beyond 3.00, which is considered important in the rating
scale. As expected, “orientation” topped the list for the Chinese. Surprisingly, for the Indians,
“street location” and “house number” are regarded as critical, with FS exceeding 4.00. The
other three elements attained FS exceeding 3.00. Further, Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA test
revealed that all elements had statistically significant differences (p < 0.05) except for
“bathroom”. This is expected, as the FS has a different distribution between the groups. As
Figure 1 illustrates, the top three categories based on overall are numbers, followed by
interior arrangement and external layout, with average FS of 3.45, 3.14 and 2.97, respectively.
The Chinese respondents seem to rate all the elements above 3.00, whereas the Malays
perceived Feng Shui as less critical in their decision-making for house purchases.
Nonetheless, the Malays are more concerned about the internal arrangement of the house
and least concerned about the surrounding environment. It is interesting to note that both the
Chinese and Indians often deliberate numbers to be associated with Feng Shui
considerations.
In terms of SS, the five most significant elements are:
For Malays:
(1) Bedroom (3.00)
(2) Street location (2.98)
(3) Living room (2.93)
(4) Orientation (2.91)
(5) Layout (2.88)
For Chinese, these are:
(1) Orientation (4.18)
(2) Layout (3.92)
(3) Street location (3.78)
PM (4) Main entrance (3.72)
(5) House number (3.68)
While for Indians:
(1) House number (3.95)
(2) Main entrance (3.90)
(3) Door openings (3.85)
(4) Floor level (3.72)
(5) Street location (3.50)
Again, all the five leading elements were rated low by the Malays, with SS below 3.00 except
for “bedroom”. Both Chinese and Indians are of the opinion that the five leading elements are
significant to affect the pricing of houses. Further, Kruskal–Wallis ANOVA test comparing
the ethnic groups confirmed that “bathroom” is the sole element without statistically
significant differences in the opinions of the respondents. A close examination of Table 5 also
reveals the SS, as rated by the three ethnic groups, varies to a large extent. As Figure 2
illustrates, the top three categories based on overall with the largest effects on property prices
are numbers, followed by interior arrangement and external layout, with an average SS of
3.30, 3.01 and 2.97, respectively. Again, the Chinese and Indian groups appear to rate
number-related elements higher than other element categories, further indicating that houses
with perceived lucky numbers can fetch higher premiums. The Malay group is fairly
consistent in rating all elements below 3.00, suggesting that their buying decisions are not
significantly influenced by Feng Shui belief. Meanwhile, surrounding environment-related
elements are viewed as the least significant group to affect house prices among all the three
distinct ethnic groups.
For IMP.S (Table 6), the 5 most important elements overall are:
(1) Orientation (13.00)
(2) Main entrance (12.62)
(3) Street location (12.32)
(4) House number (11.68)
(5) Living room (11.22)
From the Malays’ point of view, these are
(1) Living room (9.54)
(2) Orientation (8.92)
(3) Bedroom (8.79)
(4) Main entrance (8.51)
(5) Street location (8.31)
For Chinese:
(1) Orientation (17.05)
(2) Layout (15.68)
 Overall Chinese
Feng Shui in
ðN ¼ 133Þ Malay ðN ¼ 43Þ ðN ¼ 50Þ Indian ðN ¼ 40Þ property
No Elements IMP. S Rank IMP. S Rank IMP. S Rank IMP. S Rank selection and
1 Surrounding environment pricing
1.5 Street location 12.32 3 8.31 5 14.82 3 14.09 4
1.2 Front 8.82 11 6.66 14 12.45 8 7.22 15
1.1 Topography 8.47 15 6.60 15 11.42 13 7.22 15
1.6 Water view 7.77 19 6.02 19 12.45 8 4.92 22
1.3 Back 7.40 20 5.46 21 9.84 16 6.82 17
1.4 Sides 6.06 23 4.58 25 8.57 22 4.92 22
1.7 Wind direction 5.16 26 4.33 26 7.24 25 3.79 25
2 External layout
2.4 Orientation 13.00 1 8.92 2 17.05 1 13.03 5
2.2 Main entrance 12.62 2 8.51 4 14.66 4 15.11 2
2.3 Building’s shape 8.49 14 7.47 9 12.11 10 5.76 20
2.5 Greenery and trees 8.23 17 6.97 10 9.73 17 7.84 13
2.1 Shape of site 6.04 24 5.24 24 8.98 21 3.85 24
2.6 Ponds 5.80 25 6.37 18 7.61 24 3.37 26
3 Internal layout
3.1 Layout 9.90 8 8.11 7 15.68 2 5.99 19
3.4 Room shape 8.91 10 8.30 6 11.83 12 6.34 18
3.6 Ceiling 8.74 12 6.93 12 10.36 15 8.84 11
3.2 Doors 8.37 16 5.43 22 9.36 19 10.72 7
3.5 Staircases 7.38 21 6.60 15 6.92 26 8.89 10
3.3 Windows 6.63 22 5.47 20 9.06 20 5.15 21
4 Interior arrangement
4.4 Living room 11.22 5 9.54 1 13.81 5 10.07 9
4.2 Bedroom 10.33 7 8.79 3 11.96 11 10.08 8
4.3 Kitchen 8.93 9 7.72 8 11.02 14 7.82 14
4.1 Door openings 8.71 13 5.35 23 7.72 23 14.82 3
4.5 Bathroom 8.19 18 6.94 11 9.61 18 7.88 12
Table 6.
5 Numbers Importance scores and
5.1 House number 11.68 4 6.89 13 13.32 6 15.80 1 ranking by different
5.2 Floor level 10.50 6 6.51 17 12.89 7 12.48 6 ethnic groups

(3) Street location (14.82)

(4) Main entrance (14.66)
(5) Living room (13.81)
And Indians:
(1) House number (15.80)
(2) Main entrance (15.11)
(3) Door openings (14.82)
(4) Street location (14.09)
(5) Orientation (13.03)
Based on overall IMP.S, the following discussion concentrates on these most influential Feng
Shui elements.
PM Orientation: According to Too (2012), orientation is essential before a powerful Feng Shui
formula can be properly activated to deliver fast results. The orientation of a building will
affect sunlight penetration and air ventilation. Therefore, buildings that are south-facing are
preferable because they are not directly hit by the sunlight during the afternoon (Lip, 1992;
Lu, 2018). Mak and So (2015) opine that a building with the orientation of east- and
south-facing will be more favourable, whereas those that are north and west-facing are
unfavourable. Located near the equator, Malaysia is having tropical weather (hot and humid
through the year). Buildings not directly facing the hot afternoon sun are preferred, and this is
a significant consideration for indoor thermal comfort and to circumvent the excessive cost of
running air conditioning. Al-Obaidi and Woods (2006) conducted investigations on the effect
of the orientation on thermal comfort in terraced housing to suggest buildings should be on
the north–south axis to minimise solar heat gain and maintain the same minimum mean
temperature throughout the year of about 32.2 0C, whereas the worst orientations are on the
west–east axis with maximum internal mean temperatures throughout the year, compared to
other orientations, with a peak value of 33.4 0C. As such, homes with north-south building
orientation will be better sought and can fetch a higher price.
Main entrance: This element of a building should not be blocked and must provide a clear
view. The entrance of a building should not face a higher object. If the site faces the higher
ground, it is better to have the entrance at the back of the site (Lip, 1992). Most people prefer
houses that are level to or higher than the frontage road (Shanker, 2018). In the same vein,
Mak and So (2015) support that the entrance facing lower ground and water is more
preferable, and the view from the entrance should not be obstructed by trees, lamp pole or
power pole. When there are no obstacles at the main entrance, the Qi/Chi can flow into the
house perfectly.
Street location: A site or building should avoid being at the destructive road location such
as T-junction, Y-junction or dead end, as there is an occurrence of Sha Chi (Lip, 1992). In this
regard, Malaysian studies reported that houses facing T- and Y- junctions are unfavourable
(Geh and Osmadi, 2015; Sia et al., 2018; Sia and Lu, 2006). As such, some vendors may have to
be prepared to give a hefty discount for these units (Shanker, 2018). It is worth noting that a
plethora of literature cautions that the building located at a destructive location will
potentially cause adverse impact to the occupants (Lin et al., 2012; Sia et al., 2018; Tse and
Love, 2000).
House number: Numerology – the symbolism of numbers – influences how people choose
their telephone numbers, house number, business numbers and even car number plates.
According to Kammed (2017), Malaysian car owners would not mind paying hefty fees for “8”
or “888” number plates. The Chinese have long held fervent beliefs about the phonetic
meanings of certain numbers when said in Cantonese or in Mandarin, or in any of the other
Chinese dialects (Yap, 2003). For example, in Mandarin pronunciation, the number 8 is similar
to prosperity and number 3 is similar to growth, whereas number 4 is similar to death (Lin
et al., 2012). In most Asian countries, it is not uncommon to hear people buying houses based
on the house number or ensuring that their car number plates have numbers like 1-6-8 or 888
(Yap, 2003). While these may “sound” prosperous or nice, they really do not carry any real
Feng Shui effects. Feng Shui is about the “environmental” influence of Chi and how it affects
the residents (Yap, 2003). In contrast, previous studies found the numerology for house
address can often determine whether a person will buy a home (Bourassa and Peng, 1999;
Chia et al., 2016; Wu et al., 2012). For example, number 4 is considered an inauspicious number
and is often avoided by buyers (Geh and Osmadi, 2015). In Malaysia and in some other Asian
countries, apartments go without the fourth floor. Similarly, in the United States, the 13th
floor is eliminated from the floor plan. Buildings with 4th and 13th floor will add an A to it to
resemble like 3A or 12A (Begum, 2017). Number 7 is considered as unlucky in Feng Shui
because a Chinese memorial service for someone who had passed away is usually done every
seven days within seven weeks. However, footballers Cristiano Ronaldo or David Beckham Feng Shui in
who have made “No. 7” popular would have a different take on this (Kammed, 2017). property
Living room: Traditional Malaysian families spent substantial time in the living room to
discuss domestic matters or for entertainment such as watching the television (Saruwono
selection and
et al., 2012). According to Too (2012), the living room would be more preferable in a regular pricing
shape, that is, either square or rectangular, and it should be located in the outer half of the
house. Besides that, the furniture in the living room cannot be too crowded and congested
which will block the flowing of Chi. Split levels, with living room and dining room at different
levels, is unfavourable from the Feng Shui viewpoint (Shen, 2001). In this connection, Sia and
Lu (2006) questionnaire survey of prospective homebuyers in Malaysia found that 84% of the
respondents dislike living room with too many corners.
As Figure 3 illustrates, the top three categories based on the largest effects on property
prices are numbers, followed by interior arrangement and external layout, with an average SS
of 11.09, 9.48 and 9.03, respectively. Of the five most important elements, the two leading
elements are related to external layout, while surrounding environment, numbers and interior
arrangement are having one element respectively. A closer examination of Figure 3 reveals
that the Chinese group perceived all categories to be more important than the Indians did,
followed by the Malay group. With the exception of numbers, the Indian group rated this
higher than the Chinese group.

Spearman’s rank correlation

The Spearman’s rank-order correlation was calculated and statistically tested to gauge the
degree of agreement associated with the ranks of the elements between the three ethnic
groups. Notwithstanding the statistically significant differences among the opinions of the
respondents based on the three distinct ethnic groups as discussed above, there is a good
agreement between the three groups of respondents in ranking the elements in relation to
frequency, significance and importance scores (see Table 7). Interestingly, the highest degree
of agreement appears between Malay and Chinese pair (67.7% with frequency, 69.5% with
significance and 73.2 with importance scores). However, there is no general agreement to the
ranking of significant scores between Malay and Indian, and Chinese and Indian groups.
Moderate agreements are observed for the importance scores between Malay and Indian
(45.9%) and Chinese and Indian (44.2%) groups. Wan et al. (2012, p. 65) assert that “Feng Shui
is a situation that can be man-made, natural, or both”. Although it is unclear whether Feng
Shui can really improve luck, health or performance, people would certainly be happier living
in houses with favourable Feng Shui. According to Awang-Shuib et al. (2012), the elements of
Chinese’s Feng Shui give an added value to the art and science of architecture in most Asian
societies. They also underscore that cultural-environmental concern and awareness are key
to sustain a harmonious socio-cultural and socio-environmental integration. In this
connection, Feng Shui integrates both natural and cultural considerations to pursue
harmony and balance between people and nature as well as among people (Han, 2001). In
essence, Feng Shui theory is built upon ancient practical experience, and it provides a reliable

FS SS IMP.S
Respondent group rs p rs p rs p

Malay–Chinese 0.677 0.01 0.695 0.01 0.732 0.01 Table 7.

Malay–Indian 0.530 0.01 0.327 0.10 0.459 0.05 Spearman’s rank
Chinese–Indian 0.475 0.05 0.346 0.08 0.442 0.05 correlation of ethnic
Note(s): rs 5 Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient; p 5 significance level groups
 PM basis for the shaping of living space environment which is positive to develop people’s mental
and physical health (Li, 2014).
Traditionally, the Chinese are strong believers of Feng Shui principle for housing design
to enhance abundance and prosperity (Sia et al., 2018). Belief in and application of Feng Shui is
an important cultural bond and an integral part of their daily life that promotes family and
social harmony, and thus vital to the construction of cultural value and individual identity
(Zhang, 2018). On the other hand, the Indian communities support Vastu Shastra, which is the
ancient Hindu system of architecture; it basically govern the principles of design, layout,
为了评估受访者的收入 measurement, ground preparation, space arrangement and spatial geometry (Shanker, 2018).
水平是否会影响他们对 Meanwhile, Malay architecture is much influenced by the Islamic religion, believing the
风水元素的偏好，我们 existence of the magnetic energy that is governing the whole universe at a macrocosmic level,
进行了基于收入组（底
部、中间和顶部）的 and human at a microcosmic level (Lah et al., 2015). It can be concluded that metaphysical
Kruskal-Wallistest。有 approach still influences the house design and pricing in three major Malaysian cultures: the
趣的是，基于 FS 的观 Chinese-Buddhist, Indian-Hindu and Malay-Islam. Given the different cultural belief and
点没有显着差异。三个 religion among the ethnic groups, building design that mindfully embedded a natural and
收入组中最常考虑的三
个要素始终包括方向、 harmonious living environment is in not in conflict with any faith. This people-oriented
主入口和街道位置。 design with humanistic feelings can indeed attract higher demand and better premium in the
Malaysian housing markets.
同样，三个不同收入群
体认为可以显着提高房
地产价格的主要因素是 Comparing income level with Feng Shui inclinations
方向、主入口和街道位 To appraise whether the income level of the respondents will affect their preferences to Feng
置。然而，基于SS，仅
发现一个元素在意见上 Shui elements, a Kruskal–Wallis test based on income groups (bottom, middle and top) was
存在显着差异，即“方 conducted. Intriguingly, there are no significant differences in the views based on FS. The
向”。最高收入组对该 three most frequently considered elements across the three income groups consistently
要素的评价很高（SS 5
4.67），其次是中等 include orientation, main entrance and street location.
收入组（SS 5 3.77） Likewise, the leading elements perceived by the three distinct income groups that can
和低收入组（SS 5 3. significantly give rise to property prices are orientation, main entrance and street location.
44）。这表明与其他群
体相比，高收入群体更 However, based on SS, only one element is found to have a significant difference in opinion,
愿意为他们的偏好支付 namely, “orientation”. The top-income group rated this element highly (SS 5 4.67), followed
额外的溢价。高收入群 by middle-income group (SS 5 3.77) and lower-income group (SS 5 3.44). This infers that the
体更倾向于选择吉祥的
房屋方向，或者只是为 top-income group is more willing to pay an additional premium for their preferred orientation
了拥抱可持续的城市生 as compared to the other groups. The top-income group is more selective of the house
活。在此背景下，与中 direction to be auspicious or simply to embrace sustainable urban living. Against this
等和经济适用房相比， background, Feng Shui considerations are more dominant in high-cost properties as
高成本物业的风水考虑
更为重要。同样，在台 compared to medium and affordable homes. Similarly, in Taiwan, Lin et al. (2012) conclude
湾，Lin 等人。 (2012 that Feng Shui considerations are more critical in expensive housing units as compared to
) 得出结论，与较便宜 less expensive ones. Nonetheless, as highlighted by Yap and Ng (2018), there is a critical
的住房相比，在昂贵的
住房单元中，风水的考 mismatch of property price and income in the Malaysian housing market.
虑更为重要。尽管如此
，正如 Yap 和 Ng
（2018 年）所强调的 Concluding remarks
那样，马来西亚房地产
市场的房地产价格和收 The current study contributes to the knowledge of Feng Shui principles in the housing
入严重不匹配。 market with regard to property selection and pricing. This is the first studies in the housing
market within a multiethnic and multicultural society in Malaysia assessing how Feng Shui
elements can influence housing selection and pricing of the property based on cultural factor.
Following a detailed literature review, this study identified 26 influential Feng Shui
elements. A quantitative approach using questionnaire survey was employed to discover the
frequency of consideration and significance to house pricing of each element. The importance
score, which considered both the frequency and significance scores, was then computed for
each element to applicably prioritise the elements according to the different perceptions of the
three primary ethnic groups: Malay, Chinese and Indian. In the overall context, this study
revealed that the five most influential elements are orientation, main entrance, street location, Feng Shui in
house number and living room. Although the frequency and significance scores distribution property
were statistically different, the homogeneity of ranking across the three distinct ethnic
groups for the importance scores was also established using Spearman’s rank correlation
selection and
tests, suggesting no significant disagreements with respect to ranking these elements despite pricing
the diverse cultural and religious background. This study also explored how income level
influences respondents’ preferences into Feng Shui elements. It was found that the three most
considered Feng Shui elements of orientation, main entrance and street location were
consistent across the three distinct income groups.
Analysing and understanding the influential Feng Shui elements that affect housing
selection and property pricing can help property developers, architects, real estate agencies
and local authorities to gain an increased understanding about the applicability of Feng Shui
principles in residential building design and how they influence the selling market. The
findings can also guide homebuyers in deciding the best property to buy. Given that
importance of Feng Shui, it will also have a positive impact on secondary residential property
prices.
Although the objectives of this study were achieved, there are some limitations. First, the
small number of respondents (43 Malays, 50 Chinese and 40 Indians) may not be
representative of the population. Nonetheless, statistical analysis could be performed as the
central limit theorem holds true for sample size over 30 (Ott and Longnecker, 2004). Second,
this study utilised a single data collection method. The limitation associated with the
questionnaire method should be taken into account. Future work can consider employing
quantile regression methodology to estimate the impact of these critical Feng Shui elements
identified herewith on housing prices. Third, the findings from this study are well interpreted
in the context of Malaysia based on ethnic groups. More studies are required to compare and
contrast the above findings in different contexts such as age cohorts and education levels.

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Corresponding author
Jeffrey Boon Hui Yap can be contacted at: bhyap@utar.edu.my

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