TL;DR: Yes, in markets with many people who believe in lucky numbers, 'good' house numbers and floor numbers really do sell for higher prices, while numbers considered bad lower the price. The difference is measurable in percentages: in Vancouver, houses ending in 4 sell for 2.2% less, those ending in 8 for 2.5% more, and the effect is clear in areas with many ethnic Chinese residents. In Chengdu in mainland China, around 2004 to 2006, older top-floor apartments with the number 8 were priced 235 yuan per square meter above average, while new apartments were priced the same so there was no price difference, but they sold 6.9 days faster. This is the price of belief and of the ability to resell to believers, not evidence that the number 8 brings good luck.
Do lucky house numbers raise property prices?
The question of whether a 'lucky' house number raises the price has been answered with real transaction data in several markets. The brief answer is: yes, in markets with enough buyers who believe in the lucky or unlucky meaning of numbers. The gap is not a vague feeling but something measurable in percentages, and it varies by area, by market period, and by which numbers are considered lucky or unlucky.
Research by Nicole M. Fortin, Andrew J. Hill and Jane Huang, published in Economic Inquiry in 2014, examined the Vancouver housing market and found that houses with a number ending in 4 sold for about 2.2% less than the usual price, while houses with a number ending in 8 sold for about 2.5% more. Notably, this effect was clear only in areas with a large population of ethnic Chinese residents.
Why does a house number sit inside the price? The hedonic price mechanism
Real estate economics has a tool called the hedonic price model, first presented by Sherwin Rosen in 1974. The core idea: a house is not a single good but a bundle of attributes, each with a hidden price. Location, floor area, number of bedrooms, orientation, floor, and even the house number are all attributes in that bundle. When buyers pay more for an attribute, that gap reflects the value buyers place on it.
In other words, the number itself does not create material value. But when a large enough group of buyers collectively assigns meaning to a number, that meaning enters demand, and demand pushes the price. This is the key point: the effect is real in the market, but its origin is collective belief, not a physical attribute of the house.
Auckland and Singapore: how are lucky numbers priced in?
Steven C. Bourassa and Vincent S. Peng, published in the International Real Estate Review in 1999, studied the influence of feng shui on house prices in New Zealand. The results showed that in areas with large ethnic Chinese populations, houses with numbers considered lucky sold at higher prices.
In Singapore, Jia He and colleagues, published in Management Science in 2020, studied superstition, conspicuous spending and the housing market. The research found that addresses considered auspicious sold for more, and transactions fell on days considered unlucky according to the lunar calendar.
These two results agree on one point: it is not the number itself that creates value, but the community of buyers in that area. The same number can carry a completely different meaning in two cultures. The number 4 in Chinese sounds close to the word 'tử' (death), so many ethnic Chinese consider it unlucky. The number 8 sounds close to the word 'phát' (to prosper), so it is considered lucky. In Russia, 7 is the lucky number and 13 is the unlucky one.
Is floor 8 more expensive in Hồng Kông when the market is hot?
K. Chau, V.S.M. Ma and D.C.W. Ho, published in the Journal of Real Estate Literature in 2001, studied the price of luck in the Hồng Kông apartment market. They found that apartments on floors containing the number 8 sold at higher prices during a rising real estate market.
This result suggests a notable psychological mechanism: belief in lucky numbers carries different weight depending on the state of the market. When the market is hot, buyers are willing to pay more for factors they think may bring good fortune or at least make resale easier. When the market cools, that gap shrinks, sometimes disappearing. In other words, the 'price of belief' is not fixed but stretches with overall supply and demand.
In Russia, do unlucky numbers affect prices but lucky ones do not?
Elena B. Pokryshevskaya and Evgeny A. Antipov, published in Economics Bulletin in 2015, studied number superstition in the apartment market in Saint Petersburg. They compared the share of apartments sold on floor 7 with floors 6 and 8, and floor 13 with floors 12 and 14. Because floors within the same building contain exactly the same apartments, this comparison isolates the influence of the number. The result: floor 13 had a clearly negative effect on demand for new apartments, but floor 7 showed no positive advantage.
This is an interesting finding because it shows asymmetry. Fear of an unlucky number can be stronger than the appeal of a lucky one. Buyers avoid floor 13 more clearly than they chase floor 7. The authors also note that in Russia, floor 13 is not skipped in numbering as it is in some Western countries, so they had the conditions to observe this effect cleanly.
The method of this study is also notable in that they used actual sales data rather than survey data or listing price data. That means the numbers reflect real purchasing behaviour, not what people say in a questionnaire.
In Chengdu, is floor 8 more expensive and does it sell faster?
Research by Matthew Shum, Wei Sun and Guangliang Ye, published in the Journal of Comparative Economics in 2014 under the title Superstition and "lucky" apartments: Evidence from transaction-level data, used apartment transaction data in Chengdu, mainland China, from 2004 to 2006. This is an Elsevier journal published outside China, so the results reflect the Chengdu market rather than another market.
For older apartments, units on floors ending in 8 sold for an average of 235 yuan per square metre more. For new apartments, developers set prices uniformly so there was no price gap by floor, but units on floor 8 still sold 6.9 days faster. The research also noted that buyers with many 8s in their phone number tended to choose floor 8 more often.
This result adds a perspective earlier studies had not clarified: when the price does not change, belief still leaves a trace in the speed of sale. That shows the pull of the number lies not only in the listing price but also in the speed of liquidity.
Summary table of the studies
| Study | Market, data year | Data scope | Main result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fortin, Hill and Huang (2014) | Vancouver, Canada | Housing transactions, broken down by ethnic Chinese residential area | Numbers ending in 4 are 2.2% cheaper, ending in 8 are 2.5% more expensive, clear only in areas with many ethnic Chinese residents |
| Bourassa and Peng (1999) | Auckland, New Zealand | Housing in areas with large ethnic Chinese populations | Lucky house numbers are reflected in the price |
| He and colleagues (2020) | Singapore | Housing transactions | Auspicious addresses cost more, transactions fall on unlucky days according to the lunar calendar |
| Chau, Ma and Ho (2001) | Hồng Kông | Apartment market | Floors with the number 8 cost more when the market is hot |
| Pokryshevskaya and Antipov (2015) | Saint Petersburg, Russia | New apartments, comparing floor 7 with 6 and 8, floor 13 with 12 and 14 | Floor 13 sells clearly worse, floor 7 has no advantage |
| Shum, Sun and Ye (2014) | Chengdu, mainland China, 2004 to 2006 | Transactions of older and new apartments | Older units on floors ending in 8 cost 235 yuan per square metre more; new units show no price gap but sell 6.9 days faster; buyers with many 8s in their phone number are more likely to choose floor 8 |
Why might even non-believers have to pay?
A good question is: if I do not believe 8 is lucky, why should I pay more for it? The answer lies in resale potential. If a substantial share of future buyers believe 8 is auspicious, then a house with the number 8 has a wider pool of buyers, and therefore higher liquidity. Non-believing buyers still have an economic reason to pay more, because they are buying access to that pool of buyers when they want to resell.
This mechanism is similar to what happens with other attributes of a house. A low-floor apartment may not be good for the current buyer's health, but if the market favours low floors for convenience, the price is still high. What buyers pay is not only the use value for themselves, but also the resale value on the market.
In Vietnamese folk belief, many people believe 8 and 6 are lucky numbers, 4 is unlucky, and when buying a house they often weigh both the house number and the floor number. This belief is not unique to Vietnamese people but appears in many places influenced by Chinese culture.
What has not been proven about lucky numbers?
To date, no research on the influence of house numbers and floor numbers on real estate prices in Vietnam has been published in international economics journals. The results above come from Vancouver, Auckland, Singapore, Hồng Kông, Saint Petersburg and Chengdu. One cannot infer that the gap in Vietnam will match those figures, because the gap depends on the share of believers in the specific market, on supply and demand, and on the market period. The Chengdu result speaks only about the Chengdu market in the two years 2004 to 2006, not a general rule for every place influenced by Chinese culture.
It should also be made clear: these studies measure market prices, not fortune. They show that people pay more for the number 8, not that the number 8 brings anything better to the homeowner. Measuring the price of belief does not mean that belief is causally correct.
From the perspective of traditional feng shui, numbers and directions have their own meanings, and choosing a house number or floor number that suits one's destiny is considered part of settling into a home. However, this is the understanding of a belief system, not a conclusion of empirical science. The studies above do not test whether feng shui is right or wrong; they only measure how buyers behave.
What should home buyers ask?
If you are considering buying a house and wondering about the house number or floor number, a few practical questions can help you make a better decision.
First, does that area have many buyers who care about lucky numbers? If so, a lucky house number can be a liquidity advantage when you resell, and an unlucky house number can be a disadvantage. If few people in that area care, the gap may be insignificant.
Second, is the price gap the seller is asking for a lucky number proportionate to the real liquidity advantage? If the seller asks 5% more for the number 8 but research in a similar market shows only a 2-3% gap, the extra ask may be the seller's expectation rather than market value.
Third, do you actually believe? If you believe and a lucky number makes you feel more at ease living there, that is a valid reason to pay more. If you do not believe, you can still consider paying more for liquidity reasons, but you should know clearly that it is an economic reason, not a spiritual one.
Is the price of belief real? Conclusion from the studies
The studies in Vancouver, Auckland, Singapore, Hồng Kông, Saint Petersburg and Chengdu all show one consistent thing: when enough buyers believe in the lucky or unlucky meaning of a number, that belief enters the price. 'Lucky' house numbers and floor numbers can sell higher, numbers considered unlucky can sell lower. The gap is measured in percentages, not in vague feelings. In Chengdu, when there was no price gap, belief still showed up in a faster sale.
But two things need to be distinguished. One is the price of belief in the market, measurable through transaction data. The other is the true value of the number for the fortune of the people living there, which these studies do not measure and cannot measure with their methods. The effect is real, but it arises from collective belief rather than from the number itself. For home buyers, understanding this mechanism helps them make wiser decisions, whether they believe or not.
