Do crime rates affect property prices?

ALIA bought a house in an established neighbourhood in Kuala Lumpur a couple of years ago. There were security personnel patrolling the area. Two months after formalising the purchase, the guard patrols stopped because more than half of the residents in the area did not want to pay the monthly RM60 security fees.

Street crime and break-ins occurred, one of which resulted in the death of a youth who charged at an off-duty police personnel with several others with parangs. It was not that the neighbourhood was crime free before. It was just that some residents wanted a higher level personal security and had hoped that the rest of the community would support the cause.