Superstition plays a surprising role in the world of real estate. Some residences uses the 13th and 14th floors as facilities levels, keeping apartments below and above.
Last year, a Chinese investor of ours bought a heritage property in George Town for an auspicious price: MYR 8,888,888. Because the number 8 is considered lucky in Chinese culture. It’s pronounced “ba” in Chinese Mandarin and is similar to the Chinese Cantonese word “fa,” which means prosperous. This comes as no surprise to real estate insiders who frequently work with Asian buyers in locations around the world.
Eight is definitely a very popular number. The number’s popularity figures prominently in real estate, both as a way that buyers can show that they really like a property when making an offer, but also in other ways, like in the street address, unit number or building floor count.
The number 8 is typically considered lucky by people from southern Chinese cities like Hong Kong, Fuzhou and Guangzhou, as well as some buyers from Japan, Singapore and Malaysia.
When 8 is part of an address, it can be really appealing to these buyers. The negotiations played out with a lot of 8s in them, too. We often have clients needing an 8 in the final price.
A building with a floor number with an 8 might also appeal, whether that’s the floor that someone lives on or the number of stories in a building. Developers from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing to Dubai are raising or have completed residential and mixed use structures that have 88 or 108 or even 128 floors—and, in some cases, a height in meters that ends in 8, too.
On the other end of that spectrum, 4, which is pronounced “si” in Chinese Mandarin and Hokkien and “sei” in Chinese Cantonese, a word synonymous with death in Chinese culture, can have the opposite effect. We have seen developers adjust their plans based on this superstition. The floors and units with numbers such as 4, 14, 24 are often replaced by 3A, 13A, and 23A.
We have had deals fall through because of an unlucky number, in some cases not because of the number itself, but because the digits in the unit number—554—added up to 14. A buyer from Korea backed out of an all-cash deal once she made this realisation.
While 8, 4 and 13 are most often the “lucky” and “unlucky” numbers that impact real estate, experts note that in some other cultures, different numbers can also carry a special meaning.
We have also seen a preference for the number 7 by Russian buyers, as 7 symbolises the seven days of world creation. But, at the end of the day, most of these buyers aren’t very superstitious and are rather just looking for a good deal.
On this note, many people, including plenty of Chinese buyers, don’t consider these things at all when making real estate decisions. The focus on lucky and unlucky numbers may be temporary.
Whether you are buying, selling, or just plain interested in real estate, connect with Penang Property Angel today for professional assistance.
