Friday is the most popular day of the week for people to get the keys to their new home.
But new figures from Registers of Scotland suggest numbers plummet on what some regard as the unluckiest day of the year.
Average number of house moves by day of the week: Scotland, 2004 to 2019
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday | Sunday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 224 | 140 | 176 | 268 | 1,141 | 6 | 7 |
Registers of Scotland (RoS) figures show that house moves drop by over half on Friday 13th.
Looking at data from January 2004 to December 2019 we found that, on average, there were 1,163 house moves on Friday’s.- However, on Friday 13th, the average fell to 527 moves.
Average number of house moves on Fridays vs Friday 13th
| Friday 13th | Friday (but not 13th) |
|---|---|
| 527 | 1,163 |
Figures shows that on the last Friday 13th – in December 2019 – there were 738 house moves.
A week earlier, on Friday 6th December 2019, there had been 1,300 house moves, and seven days later on Friday 20th December there were 505 house moves (the proximity to Christmas likely affecting the number of house moves on this date).
On the Friday 13th before that – in September 2019 – there were 719 house moves.
A week earlier, on Friday 6th September 2019, there had been 1,248 house moves, and seven days later on Friday 20th September 2019 there were 1,167 moves.
Friday 13th vs following Friday house moves
Friday 13th September 2019
Number of house moves:
| Friday week before | Friday 13th | Friday week after | Same Friday year before |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,248 | 719 | 1,167 | 1,380 |
Friday 13th December 2019
Number of house moves:
| Friday week before | Friday 13th | Friday week after* | Same Friday year before |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,300 | 738 | 505 | 1,649 |
*just before Christmas
Commenting on the release, Accountable Officer Janet Egdell said:
We can’t definitively say that people are superstitious about moving house on Friday 13th. However, our data does indicate that, while people overwhelmingly prefer to move house on a Friday compared with any other day in the week, there is a significant drop in the number of people doing so where this lands on the 13th day in the month
It looks as though Friday 13th is a much less popular Friday to move than the others in the year. We look forward to seeing whether this trend continues this year. To those that are moving house today we hope that it is as stress-free as possible. For the superstitious among you please take extra care when moving mirrors between properties and maybe avoid opening any umbrellas inside your new home.
Registers of Scotland is the public body responsible for keeping public registers of land, property, and other legal documents in Scotland. Its data is used to publish the monthly UK House Price Index – a National Statistics, widely-regarded as the definitive report on house price inflation.
Notes to editors
- Supporting tables and charts on Friday 13th and the changes in house moves in Scotland can be found here.
- A chi-squared test shows that there is a significant difference in house moves on each day of the week and that there is a significance difference in house moves on all Fridays and Friday 13th over the period 2004 to 2019.
- Figures are for residential properties only.
- The next UK House Price Index including data for January 2020 will published on 25 March 2020.