Home Buyers’ and Vendors’ Behaviours: Analysis of Judicial Decisions

Abstract

This paper examines the behaviour of vendors and purchasers indirectly through the judicial decisions in Malaysia, Australia, and the United States. The decided cases illustrate that buyers are still indolent in their duty to conduct pre-purchase inspections, some vendors were seen to have actively concealed defects in the property and fraudulently misrepresented the conditions of the properties. This paper suggests consumer education for both the vendors and purchasers and the extension of the jurisdiction of either the Tribunal for Homebuyers Claims or the Tribunal for Consumer Claims to include matters regarding the dispute as to the condition of the property. Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v2i6.962 , UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer-review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of IntroductionAs increasing numbers of the population begin to own houses, they view a house as a home, a place of comfort, and security. A house is not merely a roof over one's head instead it symbolises family, stability, wealth, and collateral for accessing loan (National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association, Canada 2005;Reuschke & Houston 2016). Households with modest means need safe and suitable housing that is affordable but does not compromise the quality. Housing preferences and choices differ from one person to another . However, it is agreed that when the housing is affordable, low, and middle-income families can put nutritious food on the table, receive necessary health care, and provide reliable day-care for their children (Wardrip, Williams & Hague 2011). The notion of housing quality has a very broad usage, encompassing a variety of meanings but it can be defined as -distinguishing properties that promote a degree of excellence.‖ Housing choice and preference is primarily based on the relationship between prospective house owner's expectations and the property conditions that will support his value needs, and release fulfilment within his housing unit's environment .In realisation of the challenging economic situation and weak consumer sentiment in the real property market, it is no surprise that house buyers consider buying sub-sale of residential properties. Among the benefits of buying homes from the secondary market are huge discounts and readily-available accommodation and facilities. Besides, most second-hand houses are situated in matured towns. Therefore, they have no problem of getting access to public amenities. Besides, Abdullah, N.C., et.al., / 3 rd AQoL2017Kuching, 14-16 Oct 2017 / E-BPJ, 2(6), Nov 2017 230 investors who buy from the sub-sale market can also rent them because there is growing demand for lease and tenancy (Sun Daily 2017a).In Malaysia, a study ...

A Survey on Homebuyers Behaviour towards the Housing Market in Klang Valley

“…Informational influence enhances consumers' individual knowledge and ability to cope with environmental issues through information [12]. The source of information prior to purchase can be internal (memory) or external (environment) [13]. Drawing on an extensive range of sources, [14] set out five (5) different sources of information that influence the prospective home buyers' decision namely (i) human sources (ii) printed media (iii) networked sources (iv) organisational sources and (v) other sources.…”