In Chinese culture, the pronunciation of the words for “eight” (ba) and “fortune” (fa) are similar, so the number is considered the luckiest of all the digits. With the influx of foreign buyers in the U.S., sellers are taking an extra step to draw people to their listing.
Realtor.com reports that sellers are pricing their homes at $888,888 or $8,888,888 to better appeal to Chinese buyers. Even more effective than the home price is the address, as properties that end in 8 are viewed as especially lucky.
A Bel Air, CA, home with the address of 10888 Chalon Road was recently sold for $4,175,000—which was 36% higher than similar-size homes in the same neighborhood. We couldn’t confirm whether the deep-pocketed buyer was indeed of Chinese descent, because the home was bought by a limited liability company—a common practice for buyers to hide their identities.
The site offered other tips for selling to superstitious Chinese buyers, including avoid 4s in the sales price (much like eight, the pronunciation of “four” is similar to the word for “death”) and touting a home’s feng shui.
