[Rails] Check if the there is no records found

In the controller
@properties = Property.paginate :page => params[:page], :order =>
'created_at DESC'

in the view
I have tried
<% if !$properties.blank? %>
<%= render :partial => "show_properties_list" %>
<%else%>
<h3>no records found</h3>
<%end%>
but it did not work
also, I have tried empty? and not [] {}

all of them did not work

could someone tell me what I am doing wrong

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