6 ms·
In Hong Kong, flats really are cheaper when they contain the number 4
- akhatri_aus 8y agoIts a bit surprising to see this. I thought they go for using '3B' instead of an outright '4'
- slygent 8y agoI only include integer floors in this analysis, but there very few flats with regex \d\w. Or you're surprised there are 4s at all?
- lokopodium 8y agoAs seen in Sydney: https://antontsau.livejournal.com/291486.html https://antontsau.livejournal.com/291486.html
- akhatri_aus 8y agoThe 4s aren't surprising because of the superstition with 4, it's that you find them that is odd. To best capitalise on the property it would be apt to rename them 3B or 13B. It's a well known practice to avoid the 4 because it wastes value.
- lordnacho 8y agoSo the number 4 in Cantonese sounds like the word for death. Though a different tone is used. Thing is the number 9 sounds just like the word for dog, why doesn't that cause a problem?
- fladrif 8y agoPeople have an aversion to death more than dogs.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- tanilama 8y ago4 is being actively avoided. And combines with other numbers, like 14(to die), 174(going to die) make it a very ominous number indeed.
- bilbyx 8y ago174 sounds more like "dying together". How about 54 "not dying"?
- tanilama 8y ago1 can pronounce as 一(yi1), but sometimes can be also pronounce as 幺(yao1). The latter sounds similar to another character 要(yao4, meaning command to do something), and together represents as 要去死(something like you are going to die). As to 54, maybe you are referring to 勿死(wu4 si3)? Its meaning is closer to, please don't die, than not dying, and though I am not sure, but 勿 uses to negating another word seems kinda ancient and outdated.
- princeb 8y ago9 is also a homonynm for "enduring" which may be good. unless it's enduring death you're worried about.
- slygent 8y agoI'm the author of this post and the founder of dataguru.hk, AMA
- baxtr 8y agoNice work! Do you see any differences when slicing the city into its various districts?
- slygent 8y agoGreat idea, I'll add it to the to-do pile!
- aequitas 8y agoThere is no significant drop for 40 where 34 and 44 both do have these. Is this because 40 is pronounced differently and doesn't have the connotation?
- slygent 8y agoCompare 39 to 40, and 49 to 50... I think it's just harder for people to avoid ALL floors starting with 4, but there is still a small effect.
- diamondo25 8y agoIts unclear whether the amount of transactions is compensated for the floors that do not exist (thus less supply).
- slygent 8y agoBut before that I include a graph of flats available, and indeed there are fewer flats with floor numbers ending with 4! So an interesting analysis would be to see if the turnover (transactions divided by availability) is different... But I think price paid is more interesting :)
- JorgeGT 8y agoVery interesting work! Just a quick note, for this kind of evenly spaced, discrete X data, stairs plots are usually better. For instance this highlights better the 13th floor issue, which in the line plot was obscured: https://i.imgur.com/cSjT5xx.png https://i.imgur.com/cSjT5xx.png
- FartyMcFarter 8y agoStupidity tax.
- sctb 8y agoPlease don't post snarky one-liners. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- lokopodium 8y ago4-containing houses and apartments sell for a discount even in Australia. Been to quite a few auctions, 0 Asian punters for 4s vs at least 5 for non-4s. Some apartment buildings are already built without level 4 altogether.
- alex_duf 8y agoIn the states it's quite common to number the floors of a building by avoiding the number 13. I think this is pure madness. 10, 11, 12, 14, 15... All of that because of a fantasy book where people had supper and they happen to be 13 at the table. Edit: Here's an example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_(number)#/media/File:Many_buttons_(4187599550).jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_(number)#/media/File:Many_b...
- smokeyBread 8y agoThe same on planes. There is never (I've never seen it anyway) row #13. It goes straight from row #12 to #14.
- jen729w 8y agoQantas to the rescue of all that is rational. https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Qantas_Airways/Qantas_Airways_Boeing_737-800.php?flightno=833&date=2018-07-10 https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Qantas_Airways/Qantas_Airw...
- Orphis 8y agoI was sitting on row 13 last week in 2 planes. Really depends on the company.
- darrenf 8y agoI assume the GP is referring to Cathay Pacific, for whom Hong Kong is home base; they do not have row 13.
- andyonthewings 8y agoAnother funny old news about superstition is that a public research institute located in Hong Kong Science Park used HK$180,000 (~USD $23,000) on fung shui consultation[1]. [1]: https://www.scmp.com/article/595459/value-money https://www.scmp.com/article/595459/value-money
- thomaspun 8y agoThere is also no 4th floor in the science park which that research institue is located.
- AmericanChopper 8y agoYou’d love the HSBC building in Hong Kong. HSBC own a large open space immediately in front of the building purely because its good feng shui to have an open view of the water [1]. It’s a completely open space in the most premium area of down town Hong Kong island, right next to the ferry terminal. It must be worth so much money. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSBC_Building_(Hong_Kong)#Feng_shui https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HSBC_Building_(Hong_Kong)#Feng...
- akvadrako 8y agoThis seems like a good example of how "feng shui" can be just "good atmosphere". A open view over the water is worth a lot.
- wcoenen 8y agoIf the number N is considered unlucky to the point that it is skipped, then shouldn't people be worried that they are living someplace that should have the number N, even if it was labeled N+1?
- lolc 8y agoIn this case it seems the bad luck is attributed to how the number four is spoken. So if you avoid saying it you avoid the bad luck. Looks like this superstition works differently from how 13 works where the count itself is unlucky.
- keketi 8y agoSomething tells me that people who care about these superstitions don't think quite that far.
- ekianjo 8y agoIn Japan also frequently parking spaces skip the number 4. House numbers too. And probably assigned phone numbers limit the number of 4s you get at once. Its a little silly.
- robjan 8y agoA lot of the less upmarket (older) buildings don't omit the number four which could factor in. Older buildings, although bigger, tend to have high maintenance fees and are less desirable.
- slygent 8y agoYes, I didn't normalise for age/grottiness of building. But isn't it interesting that it's the older/grottier buildings that didn't skip the number 4? But this doesn't really explain the difference in prices even for floor 44...
- jellicle 8y agoIt's becoming common to build condo towers without fours in markets intended to appeal to buyers from Asia. Floors:...11,12,15,16....33,35,36,37,38,39,50,51,52,53,55... Units: 1,2,3,5,6,7...