HOUSE buyers are beginning to give priority to the physical aspects of a property project and have ranked security and crime prevention and quiet streets as important factors influencing their buying decisions, a real estate convention was told.

According to Perdana ParkCity Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Lee Liam Chye, who presented his paper on New Trends In Residential Development, consumers are getting bored with conventional residential neighbourhoods where houses are lined up in barrack-like rows.

He said security features like perimeter fencing, single-point entry and exit manned by uniformed security guards, home security systems and two-way resident-guard communication devices were among the features potential homeowners looked out for when they shopped for a house.

''Safety measures are increasingly becoming a concern as house buyers are protective about family members and personal belongings. Society has evolved such that people do not dare to walk outside the house alone at night anymore,'' he said.

Lee said developers and designers, particularly those in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Penang, had started to change the way they think, conceptualise and design homes.

He said they were experimenting with new neighbourhood design principles and concepts that cater to peoples' growing need for security and personal safety, silent streets, and an assortment of amenities and public spaces with vehicles kept strictly separated from the business of daily living.

''A community should be 'fashioned' for the people who live in it, and not otherwise,'' he said.

Lee also said house buyers today looked for neighbourhoods that matched their lifestyle, personal and psychographic needs in ways conventional housing estates could not.

People did not want to live in an area with heavy traffic and exhaust fumes permeating the air, he said, adding that they wanted a neighbourhood with a quiet and calm environment where they could rest their minds after work.