'West Africa Built Environment Research (WABER) Conference'
Abstract
The issue of abandoned housing project is a matter of grave importance in Malaysia.
This study sought to identify the causes leading to the problem from the view point of
neo-classical and institutional economic analysis. Having that aim in mind, the
research focused on reviewing available literature on the applicability of neo-classical
and institutional theories in land and property market analysis, understanding the
abandoned housing projects, identifying institution affecting housing development in
Malaysia, examining the role of market signal, identifying the causes of abandoned
housing projects and recommending suitable policies to prevent and solve the problem
of abandoned projects. Extensive field work was done in order to collect primary data
for the study. Surveys and semi-structured interviews were done using sample study
areas which comprises of 6 different states in Malaysia. The respondents in this study
are sample from the population of private developers. Based on the findings, it can be
concluded that the cause of abandonment of housing projects relates to institutional
factors and failure to respond appropriately to market signal
