A new house price study has recently discovered that homeowners residing in number 13 are finding that their properties are getting hit by a decrease of around £22,000.
Out of the 1.2 million homes sold across the UK each year, it is the notorious number 13 that sees one of the most drastic hits of all.
This superstitious house price drop was noticed in a 3-year analysis of official Land Registry data by Stone Real Estate property experts.
On average, homes listed as the number 13 have witnessed an 8% drop in house prices when selling up.
Between the years 2016 and 2019, the average UK home selling price stood at £282,815. Meanwhile, houses with the number 13 across the whole of the UK saw an average of just £260,716 when they sold up their home.
In fact, closer analysis has proved that some new-builds have decided to abandon any home listed at No.13 from new housing estates, just to avoid the superstitious drawbacks.
A Stone Real Estate spokesman has said: “With 13 supposedly an unlucky number, having a property tarnished with it has long been a reason for lower asking prices and has even seen some big housebuilders remove it completely from their new build developments.
“Since 2016, transactions involving the number 13 have accounted for just 0.8 per cent of new build sales and just 1.1 per cent of existing property sales. While new build homes have done a better job of overcoming the stigma, the average sold price since 2016 for number 13 new builds is still two per cent lower than new build homes with other numbers,” the spokesman continued.
The founder of Stone Real Estate, Michael Stone, said: “In this day and age, it’s quite remarkable how ancient superstitions can still have such a detrimental impact on the price a property will sell for. For many, the aspiration to own their home will no doubt rise above any such feelings around the number 13 and the figures show that as a first-time buyer, it’s probably the ideal number due to the lower cost of getting on the ladder.”
Roughly, an entire 10% of the UK’s population suffer from Triskaidekaphobia, a fear of the number 13.
This has spread across the world, causing many people to avoid the number at all costs, especially in situations such as plane seats or coach numbers. Now, airlines such as Ryanair have removed all the seat numbers labelled as 13 as prices and costs became too greatly affected by those who struggle with the number’s negative connotations.