Very superstitious: Marketing and building property based on superstitions

A little while ago ago I wrote an article about cultural superstitious beliefs and how these may attract or deter would-be buyers to or from a prospective property.

However, in the year since I wrote about superstition from the buyer’s perspective, I’ve observed the quiet emergence of what I consider to be a fascinating phenomenon: the actual marketing of property based on superstitious beliefs.

Though they may carry no superstitious beliefs themselves, choice of property based on superstitious factors may help or hinder the future sale of your investment within some segments of the buying market.

But first, allow me to expand on ‘superstition’ and its relationship with property buying.

People all over the world and from all kinds of background, walks of life, and religious and non-religious belief structures, develop and practice superstitious belief systems. These may relate to notions of light and dark, numerology and numbers, death and birth, and physical space belief systems such as feng shui.

So what does this have to do with property?

Well, some cultures around the world take superstition in their life a lot more seriously than others and the seriousness of this consideration can – and definitely does – extend to property purchase choices.

In western cultures such as Australia, the UK, and much of North America, superstition has an arguably minor impact on the ability to market a property. For instance, there is no evidence to indicate that properties with the number seven (lucky in western culture) and ones that have the number 13 (unlucky) sell for more and/or less than any other numbered property in that market.

However, in many Asian cultures, particularly China, Malaysia, Korea, and Singapore, numerology is serious business. The number eight, and long numbers with lots of eights in them, along with number combinations that form eight (e.g. 71, where 7 + 1 = 8), are extremely lucky. Conversely, the number four and numbers that form the number four are considered to be the unluckiest (due to the sound of the word for four, sounding very similar to the word for death).

Click here for a Wikipedia page that details the number-based beliefs practiced by millions of people throughout Asia.

There are other superstitious factors beyond just numerology that would-be buyers – along with your possible future tenants – may find unappealing and result in them striking your property off their hit list.

Deceased estates (most have no problem with this, yet other cultures find this a major deterrent due to the belief that recent death draws bad luck), Feng Shui and property design/composition, and even colour schemes of properties, may be enough to secure or deter prospective buyers and renters.

It should come as no surprise then that with the rise of foreign buyers in many Australian cities and suburbs emphasis on some of these factors increasingly being made. Yes, there are many buyers from Asia who are attracted to Australian property; many of them originating from China. And yes, this lucrative market is absolutely being marketed to, in a way that is specific to them.

In a similar way that ‘blue collar’ beer brands such as VB and Tooheys New are marketed towards say NRL football fans in lower-medium socio-economic areas, based on their perceived likelihood to be both an NRL fan and have an affinity for these modestly priced beer products; Asian property buyers are being marketed to, specifically in a way that will pique their attention quickly.

But not only are properties being marketed to superstitious buyers to make them more attractive, they are also being built in such a way to attract them too.

A good example is a new high-rise residential tower development in Sydney’s prestigious Eastern Suburbs. Here, the entire tower will not have any numbered floors that have the numeral ‘4’ in them. So, it is being built without a fourth, 14^th, 24^th, 34^th, and any 40^th – 49^th floor numbers. This strategy clearly goes beyond just marketing to a niche buying group; but to actually creating new property catering specifically to this group – that being the superstitious foreign investor.

I was perusing some property listings on an app on my smartphone the other day, and also came across this curious entry below:

See the fourth property down the list, priced at $659,888? There is no logical reason to price a property ending in ‘$888’. Instead, this pricing strategy is clearly aimed at attracting the superstitious Asian community and possibly foreign investors who access this app and are superstitiously minded.

Then there is the new mega-tower to be built in Melbourne’s CBD, Australia 108. Even though the tower will actually now only have 100 floors and not 108, the ‘108’ name will stay. In this recent article it is mentioned that: "Architect Nonda Katsalidis said the project will be marketed toward foreign buyers. 'That’s the reality. Malaysians, Singaporeans, Chinese.'"

It will be interesting to see how this trend continues into the future. Will properties continue to be aggressively marketed (and indeed built), towards and based on the superstitious customs and beliefs of specific cultural groups?

The good news is this; if you’re like me and superstition doesn’t faze you one bit, fear not, you are not alone. The vast majority of would be property buyers and renters place little to zero value in any superstition-based choice making.

So, whilst it is smart to be aware of trends in property positioning to the market, the best thing an investor can do is buy property based upon the simple investment fundamentals and not any superstitious beliefs.

Investing based on time-proven, data-driven fundamentals consistently beats and disproves lucky numbers, any day of the week.