Does feng shui actually move house prices?
It does, and the effect has been measured. But it does not come from the number or the direction itself. It comes from the pool of people who will buy the property from you.
Research published by the economics department at the University of British Columbia analysed close to 117,000 house sales in the United States. Addresses ending in the digit 4 sold at a discount of around 2.2 per cent, and addresses ending in 8 at a premium of around 2.5 per cent.
The more important finding is the condition attached. That effect appeared only in neighbourhoods with a substantial population of Chinese descent. Where fewer than 10 per cent of residents were of Chinese descent, the price difference was negligible.
Work in the Chinese market points the same way. Second hand apartments on floors ending in 8 sold for around 235 yuan per square metre more than other floors, and sold roughly 6.9 days faster.
Put those together and the conclusion is plain. The digit 4 does not make a house less valuable. What lowers the price is that fewer people are willing to buy it, and fewer buyers means a lower price. That is ordinary market mechanics, not anything supernatural.
Which means the useful question is not whether feng shui is true. It is whether the person who buys this property from you believes in it. Across much of the Bangkok market, for a great many properties, the answer is yes.
What each direction is believed to mean, and what actually happens to the building
The feng shui traditions used in Thailand tie each direction to an element and a meaning. The table sets the belief beside what physically happens to the house, so you can see where the two agree and where they are simply talking about different things.
| Direction | Belief | What physically happens |
|---|---|---|
| North | Water element, circulation, intellect | Takes the least direct sun over the year, so this side runs cooler |
| South | Fire element, fortune, wealth | Catches the southwest monsoon through the rainy season. Good ventilation, but this is the face the rain drives against |
| East | Wood element, beginnings, health | Gets the gentler morning sun, which dries out damp, and is out of the sun by midday |
| West | Metal element, reputation, honour | Takes the harshest afternoon sun. The wall stores heat and releases it into the house in the evening |
Look at the last row. The belief calls west the direction of reputation and honour, which sounds appealing. Physically it is the hottest side of a house in the tropics. The two are not in conflict. They are answering different questions, and if you are choosing which room to sleep in, the second one affects your daily life more.
The thing most people get wrong: a north facing room in Bangkok does get sun
The idea that a north facing room never sees direct sun is true in Europe or Japan. In Thailand it is only partly true.
Bangkok sits at roughly 13.7 degrees north, between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer. From around late April to mid August, the midday sun over Bangkok is to the north, not to the south as the textbooks written for higher latitudes assume.
So a north facing room in Bangkok does take direct sun for part of the year. It still takes less over the year than the other three sides, and it is still the cooler choice. But treat it as a preference rather than a guarantee.
Two monsoons, and which face the rain hits
The Thai Meteorological Department describes Thailand as being under the influence of two monsoons. The southwest monsoon carries moist air over the country from around mid May to mid October. The northeast monsoon follows it.
Those two sentences tell a home buyer quite a lot.
- A face turned to the southwest takes the rainy season wind head on. That means good airflow in the hot months, and it means this is the face the rain drives against. A balcony on that side is not a place to dry laundry in the rainy season, and the window frames there age faster than elsewhere.
- A face turned to the northeast takes the cool season wind, which is dry and cooler. This is the most comfortable side late in the year.
- If a room has windows on only one wall, air will not flow through it whichever way it faces, because moving air needs a way in and a way out. That matters more than the direction, and it is where most condominium units fail.
Which rules hold up even if you believe none of it
Some of the traditional prohibitions match what an architect or a builder would warn you about anyway, for entirely different reasons.
| Traditional prohibition | The physical reason that happens to agree |
|---|---|
| House facing a T junction | Headlights sweep into the house all night, engines accelerate at the corner, and it is genuinely the position a vehicle leaving the road ends up in |
| Bathroom in the middle of the house | No external wall for ventilation or daylight, so damp accumulates and mould follows, and the pipework is hard to reach when it needs work |
| Stairs running straight at the front door | No landing space to put things down or take shoes off, and it is the spot where people in a two storey house collide most often |
| Bed with the feet pointing at the door | This one is pure belief, but sleeping with your head toward the door does wake you every time somebody opens it, which is a sleep problem rather than an omen |
| Front of the house blocked by a tall building | Daylight goes, airflow is obstructed, and in practice the view is permanently closed off, which shows up in the resale price |
These are worth following whether or not you believe, because the second reason stands on its own.
Which parts are belief alone
This section is written with respect. A belief does not need scientific backing to have value to the person holding it. But in an article people use to make decisions involving money, it is worth being clear about which items have no physical mechanism behind them.
- Assigning elements to directions and outcomes such as fortune, reputation or health to those elements
- Auspicious directions determined by the owner's day of birth or zodiac year
- Placement of mirrors, fountains, fish tanks or lucky objects to attract or block energy
- House or door colours chosen to strengthen a personal element
- House numbers and floor numbers being lucky or unlucky
The last item is the interesting one. It has no physical mechanism, and yet it has a measurable financial effect, as the research at the top of this article shows. It is the clearest example of an unprovable belief producing a measurable result once enough people hold it.
If you believe none of it, you still have to pay attention
Because on the day you sell, you are not the one setting the price.
A property carrying a feature that one group of buyers will not accept loses that entire group, whether or not the reasoning holds up. Two things follow every time: it takes longer to sell, and the price comes down to reach the buyers who remain. That is what the 6.9 days in the Chinese research is describing.
In Bangkok the share of buyers who weight these things is large enough to affect liquidity in practice, particularly in the mid market and above, and particularly for property being sold to Chinese buyers.
So the practical advice is not to change what you believe. It is to know which features of the property you are about to buy will narrow the market when you come to sell, and to use that in the price negotiation now. That turns the information to your advantage instead of arguing with it.
What to look at during the viewing
- Open the compass on your phone, stand at the front door and record the direction the property faces. Do not take the seller's word for it.
- Come back at least once in the afternoon, so you learn how hot the west side actually gets. Viewing only in the morning misses this every time.
- Check whether there are openings on more than one wall. With windows on one side only, air will not move through whatever the direction.
- Stand at the front and look for a road running straight at the property or a tall building closing off the frontage.
- Check whether the bathroom has an external wall. If it does not, make sure there is an extract fan that actually works.
- If you are buying to resell, note the house number and the floor number, and judge whether they will narrow the market later.
For the checks that matter considerably more than orientation, how to check a plot before paying a deposit sets out the process. And if you are still looking, our houses and condominiums for sale are listed with their locations and floor areas.
Frequently asked questions
Does a house number ending in 4 really make a property harder to sell?
In markets where buyers care, yes. Research on close to 117,000 US transactions found a discount of around 2.2 per cent for addresses ending in 4, but only in neighbourhoods with a substantial population of Chinese descent. Below 10 per cent, the difference was negligible.
Which direction should a house face in Thailand?
There is no single best direction for everyone. Physically, the north side takes the least direct sun and runs cooler, the east gets gentle morning sun and is out of it by midday, the west is hottest because it takes the afternoon sun, and the south catches the rainy season monsoon along with the driven rain.
Is it true that a north facing room in Bangkok never gets sun?
No. Bangkok sits at about 13.7 degrees north, and from roughly late April to mid August the midday sun is to the north. A north facing room does take direct sun mid year. It simply takes less across the year than the other sides.
Is a bathroom in the centre of the house really bad?
Tradition says so, and there is a separate physical problem that agrees. Without an external wall there is no ventilation or daylight, so damp builds up and mould follows, and the pipework is difficult to reach for repairs. Worth avoiding whether or not you believe.
If I do not believe in feng shui, should I still consider it when buying?
Yes, because when you sell, the buyer sets the price rather than you. A property that excludes one group of buyers takes longer to sell and usually has to come down in price. The way to use this is to bring the limitation into the negotiation when you buy.
Do floors ending in 8 really sell better?
Research in the Chinese second hand apartment market found floors ending in 8 sold at around 235 yuan per square metre more and about 6.9 days faster on average. Those figures come from the Chinese market rather than the Thai one, but the same mechanism operates wherever the buyer pool shares the belief.
Is there any evidence behind auspicious directions based on birth date?
There is no physical mechanism behind it. It is a belief, which does not mean it cannot inform your decision, but it should be kept separate from sun, wind, ventilation and resale liquidity, which are different questions with different answers.
Which balcony direction is best for drying laundry?
In practice avoid the southwest face in the rainy season, because it takes the southwest monsoon that covers Thailand from around mid May to mid October and is therefore the face the rain drives against hardest.
Key takeaways
- Feng shui does affect price, but through the size of the buyer pool rather than through the number or direction itself.
- Research on close to 117,000 US sales found roughly a 2.2 per cent discount for addresses ending in 4 and a 2.5 per cent premium for 8, only in neighbourhoods with many residents of Chinese descent.
- Where that population was under 10 per cent the price difference largely disappeared, which is the evidence that the mechanism is the buyers rather than the digits.
- Several prohibitions, including a central bathroom, a T junction frontage and a blocked outlook, have physical reasons behind them that stand independently of the belief.
- Assigning elements to directions, auspicious directions by birth date and the placement of lucky objects have no physical mechanism behind them.
- A north facing room in Bangkok does take direct sun from about late April to mid August, because at this latitude the midday sun is to the north.
- The southwest face takes the monsoon from around mid May to mid October and is the side the rain drives against.