Cultural Superstitions and Residential Real Estate Prices : Transaction-Level Evidence from the US Housing Market

The number 8, pronounced like 'prosperity,' is lucky in Chinese culture; 4, pronounced like 'death' is unlucky. Superstitious beliefs may influence asset prices if transaction participants have cultural preferences for specific numbers. We analyze the relationship between the presence of 8s and 4s in addresses and single family home transaction prices in Seattle, Washington over the period 1990 to 2015. We tokenize names of 1948-2012 Summer Olympics athletes for team China and US to predict individual buyer and seller ethnicity. Results show Chinese buyers pay a 1.8% premium for addresses containing 8s. Sellers receive a 1.6% premium. Chinese buyers pay a 1% discount for addresses ending in 4