A Bit Of Halloween Fun From Monopoly Buy Sell Rent
Where Are The UK’s Most Superstitious House Buyers?
While some of us might choose to simply not walk under a ladder or avoid black cats at all costs, others go so far as to not buy a perfectly suitable house if the number on the front door is 13. With Halloween just days away, there is no time of year more appropriate than now to think about which areas in the UK are the most or least superstitious, and housing website reallymoving.com has done just that.
After analysing sales of every number 13 property from January 2014 to July 2016, they found that the Midlands are the most superstitious region of the UK, with their average superstitiousness score reaching the half way point at exactly 50 per cent. In the entire region, Birmingham is the most superstitious with the lowest amount of number 13 properties. It’s likely that the supposed bad luck that comes with the number 13 is what has caused the amount of moves to houses labelled with the unlucky figure in Birmingham to be significantly less than other numbers. For example, while there were nearly 1,000 sales of properties numbered 12 and 900 for those numbered 14 between January 2014 to July 2016, those numbered 13 only saw about 300 sales.
But it’s not just the Midlands that are likely to be swayed by superstition – the country as a whole is becoming more superstitious. The national average for number 13 property sales should have been over 15,000 to keep in proportion with those numbered 12 and 14, and in turn create a ‘smooth curve’. However, the actual figure was around 10,000 – buyers seem to just not want to purchase a home that is labelled with an unlucky number.
The rise in superstition has become so ingrained – either consciously or subconsciously – in the minds of so many that property developers have become increasingly likely to avoid using the number thirteen at all in new developments.
This isn’t the first time superstition has been found to impact the property market. In the past, the Telegraph has reported that a large number of buyers won’t exchange or complete on Friday the 13th because of superstitious beliefs, no matter what the house number.
Despite this, other areas in the country are not so shaken by cracked mirrors or the legendary unlucky number. Reallymoving found that London, Wales and the South East demonstrate a lower level of average superstitiousness, with the figures for London and Wales’ being just under 20 per cent and the South East just a bit higher at about 25 per cent. Romford is shown to be the least fazed area in the South East as the amount of property sales with the number 13 are more proportionate with other house numbers than in Birmingham – there were around 300 sales each of properties numbered 12, 13 and 14.
What If I Live At Number 13 & Want To Sell?
If you currently live at number 13 and are thinking of selling your home, don’t be too discouraged – these properties don’t actually sell for a lower price, and are just like any other home that is the same but with a different house number when it comes to selling.
Even if you don’t live at 13 but your home has an usual or uncomfortable history that many people already know about, then it’s best to be honest about this even if you don’t legally have to. It’s important that a potential buyer trusts you.
So Why is The Number 13 So Unlucky?
The fear of the number 13 has been around longer than anyone can remember, and there are various reasons for it having a bit of a bad reputation.
Because the number 12 is seen as a number of completeness – for example, there are 12 months in the year, 12 zodiac signs, 12 gods of Olympus and so on – then the number following it ruins the completeness. 13 takes this unfortunate spot.
And the number just keeps getting more and more unlucky the more you hear about it. Norse mythology states that having 13 people dining at a table will inevitably lead to the death of one of the diners. This is even demonstrated in Christianity, when Jesus and the 12 apostles dined together at the Last Supper before Jesus died. What’s more is when ‘The Thirteen Club’ dined together in the 19th century with the intention of debunking the myth that 13 people dining at a table was bad luck (on the 13th of the month, no less), one of the diners, former US President William McKinley, was later assassinated. Theodore Roosevelt was also a member and a victim of an assassination attempt, but luckily his wounds were not fatal.
If You’d Like To View Somewhere Scarily Different…
A Welsh chapel in Ceredigion is currently on the market for £30,000. Built in 1842 and featuring it’s own graveyard, grazed arch windows and an intimidating ‘Danger Keep Out’ sign, its the perfect Halloween buy. Prospective buyers have been warned not to move any gravestones as the graveyard is still open to the public. A little restoration work might be needed if permitted.