Homes: About to get much cheaper
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer
On 11:07 am EDT, Tuesday October 20, 2009
Buzz up! 1270 Print.If you thought home prices were bottoming out, you may be wrong. They're expected to head a lot lower.
Home values are predicted to drop in 342 out of 381 markets during the next year, according to a new forecast of real estate prices.
Overall, the national median home price is predicted to drop 11.3% by June 30, 2010, according to Fiserv, a financial information and analysis firm. For the following year, the firm anticipates some stabilization with prices rising 3.6%.
In the past, Fiserv anticipated the rapid decline in home-sale prices over the past few years -- though it underestimated the scope.
Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody's Economy.com, agreed with Fiserv's current assessments. "I think more price declines are coming because the foreclosure crisis is not over," he said.
In fact, those areas with high concentrations of foreclosure sales will experience the steepest drops, according to Fiserv. Miami, for example, is expected to be the biggest loser. Prices are forecast to plunge 29.9% by next June -- after having already fallen a whopping 48% during the past three years.
If Fiserv's forecast holds, Miami real median home price will tumble to $142,000 by June 2011.
In Orlando, Fla., the second-worst performing market, Fiserv anticipates a 27% price collapse by June 2010, followed by a less severe drop the following year. In Hanford, Calif., prices are estimated to drop 26.9% and continue falling 9.5% in 2011; in Naples, Fla., they're expected to fall 26.8% and then flatten out.
Other notable losers include Las Vegas, where prices have already fallen 54.6% and are expected to lose another 23.9% by June 2010. In Phoenix values have already collapsed by 54% and could fall another 23.4%. In both cities, Fiserv anticipates the losses to continue into 2011, but they will be less than 5%.
Prices had stabilized
The latest forecast is at odds with the past few months of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price index. That report has given hope that most housing markets may have already stabilized because the composite index of 20 cities rose in May, June and July. Nationally, it found that home prices have gained 3.6%.
Brad Hunter, chief economist for Metrostudy, which provides housing market information to the industry, however, expects a change in fortunes, however.
"I'm afraid Case-Shiller may be just a temporary reprieve," he said.
He pointed out that the tax credit for first-time home buyers helped support prices during the three months of Case-Shiller gains. By the end of November, the credit will have been used by 1.8 million homebuyers, at least 355,000 of whom would not have bought a house without the tax break, according to estimates by the National Association of Realtors. But the market assistance ends when the credit expires on Dec. 1.
Hunter also sees a new wave of foreclosure problems coming from higher priced loans and prime mortgages. He expects a high failure rate for option ARM loans that were issued to prime customers so they could buy homes in bubble markets, such as California and Florida. In those areas, prices for even modest homes had skyrocketed.
Winners
A handful of metro areas will buck the trend, according to Fiserv. Six markets will remain flat, and 33 will actually post gains. The biggest winner will be the Kennewick, Wash., metro area, where home prices have ramped up 8.9% over the past three years and are expected to increase another 3.4% by June 2010.
Fairbanks, Alaska, prices are anticipated to rise 2.5%, while Anchorage will climb 2.1%. Elmira, N.Y., prices may inch up 1.8%.
The nation's biggest metro area, New York City, will underperform the nation as a whole over the next two years, according to Fiserv. Prices, which have already fallen 21.7% to a median of $375,000, are expected to fall 17.4% by June 2011.
Home values in the nation's second largest city, Los Angeles, have fallen 43.3% since June 2006 to a median of $313,000. They are expected to dive another 20.2% over by June 2010, and then start to climb in 2011. Chicago prices, which have fallen 25.2% to $227,000, will drop only 4.1% over the next 12 months and then starting to climb.
The Detroit metro area now has the dubious distinction of having the lowest home prices in the country. Prices have dropped 51.7% to a median of $50,000. They're expected to fall another 9.1% and then stabilize.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Work..but don't burnout..here's how...
It's important that you always remain motivated. Here are some secrets to help you avoid burnout.
Put in 15 minutes.
When the thought of sitting down to the computer late at night makes you want to cry, convince yourself to put in just 15 minutes. At the very least you will get a little something done.
But don't be surprised if once you begin your task, you get more done. Sometimes the hardest part is getting started.
Keep it realistic.
Setting high goals is good, but make sure they are realistic. Setting your sights too high can backfire when you aren't able to reach them and this can actually ruin your motivation if you start feeling like a failure.
Jot down goals on paper, but keep assessing your progress and make adjustments when necessary. Remember there are many ways to get to the finish line. Keep evaluating because your initial course may not be the best way if it proves to be unrealistic.
Keep a gratitude journal.
One sure way to have a positive attitude is to keep a gratitude journal. Jotting down everything you are thankful for on a consistent basis will help you keep things in perspective and realize just how good you have it.
Maintaining a positive, upbeat attitude will help you to feel thankful for this opportunity and keep you motivated to make the most of it.
Get inspired.
Put together an "Inspiration Binder". This can consist of inspiring quotes and letters of encouragement from friends and family. Be sure to include a letter to yourself.
Putting your own strengths on paper is not conceited but rather a great way to pump yourself up when negative self-talk gets down. Don't underestimate the power of motivating words.
Put in 15 minutes.
When the thought of sitting down to the computer late at night makes you want to cry, convince yourself to put in just 15 minutes. At the very least you will get a little something done.
But don't be surprised if once you begin your task, you get more done. Sometimes the hardest part is getting started.
Keep it realistic.
Setting high goals is good, but make sure they are realistic. Setting your sights too high can backfire when you aren't able to reach them and this can actually ruin your motivation if you start feeling like a failure.
Jot down goals on paper, but keep assessing your progress and make adjustments when necessary. Remember there are many ways to get to the finish line. Keep evaluating because your initial course may not be the best way if it proves to be unrealistic.
Keep a gratitude journal.
One sure way to have a positive attitude is to keep a gratitude journal. Jotting down everything you are thankful for on a consistent basis will help you keep things in perspective and realize just how good you have it.
Maintaining a positive, upbeat attitude will help you to feel thankful for this opportunity and keep you motivated to make the most of it.
Get inspired.
Put together an "Inspiration Binder". This can consist of inspiring quotes and letters of encouragement from friends and family. Be sure to include a letter to yourself.
Putting your own strengths on paper is not conceited but rather a great way to pump yourself up when negative self-talk gets down. Don't underestimate the power of motivating words.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Honestly...I dont know how I feel about this..
Fannie Mae to rent out homes instead foreclosing
By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer Alan Zibel, Ap Real Estate Writer – Thu Nov 5, 10:02 am ET
WASHINGTON – Thousands of borrowers on the verge of foreclosure will soon have the option of renting their homes from Fannie Mae, under a policy announced Thursday.
The government-controlled company, through its new "Deed for Lease" program, will allow borrowers to transfer ownership to Fannie Mae and sign a one-year lease, with month-to-month extensions after that.
The program will "eliminate some of the uncertainty of foreclosure, keeps families and tenants in their homes during a transitional period, and helps to stabilize neighborhoods and communities," Jay Ryan, a Fannie Mae vice president, said in a statement.
But the effort is likely to affect a relatively small number of homeowners. In the first half of the year, Fannie Mae took back about 1,200 properties through this process, known as a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. That pales in comparison to the 57,000 foreclosed properties the company repossessed in the period.
While neither option is particularly attractive for the homeowner, a deed-in-lieu does less harm to the borrower's credit record.
The rental program is designed to help homeowners who don't qualify for a loan modification under the Obama administration's plan, but still want to remain in their homes. Fannie Mae is not planning to market the homes for sale during the one-year rental period.
Fannie Mae has hired an outside company, which officials declined to identify, to manage the properties.
To qualify, homeowners have to live in the home as their primary residence and prove that they can afford the market rent, which would be determined by the management company. The rent can't be more than 31 percent of their pretax income.
Fannie Mae's sibling company, Freddie Mac, launched a similar effort in March. That policy, however, requires the foreclosure to be complete and only allows month-to-month leases. A Freddie Mac spokesman declined to say how many borrowers have participated.
By ALAN ZIBEL, AP Real Estate Writer Alan Zibel, Ap Real Estate Writer – Thu Nov 5, 10:02 am ET
WASHINGTON – Thousands of borrowers on the verge of foreclosure will soon have the option of renting their homes from Fannie Mae, under a policy announced Thursday.
The government-controlled company, through its new "Deed for Lease" program, will allow borrowers to transfer ownership to Fannie Mae and sign a one-year lease, with month-to-month extensions after that.
The program will "eliminate some of the uncertainty of foreclosure, keeps families and tenants in their homes during a transitional period, and helps to stabilize neighborhoods and communities," Jay Ryan, a Fannie Mae vice president, said in a statement.
But the effort is likely to affect a relatively small number of homeowners. In the first half of the year, Fannie Mae took back about 1,200 properties through this process, known as a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. That pales in comparison to the 57,000 foreclosed properties the company repossessed in the period.
While neither option is particularly attractive for the homeowner, a deed-in-lieu does less harm to the borrower's credit record.
The rental program is designed to help homeowners who don't qualify for a loan modification under the Obama administration's plan, but still want to remain in their homes. Fannie Mae is not planning to market the homes for sale during the one-year rental period.
Fannie Mae has hired an outside company, which officials declined to identify, to manage the properties.
To qualify, homeowners have to live in the home as their primary residence and prove that they can afford the market rent, which would be determined by the management company. The rent can't be more than 31 percent of their pretax income.
Fannie Mae's sibling company, Freddie Mac, launched a similar effort in March. That policy, however, requires the foreclosure to be complete and only allows month-to-month leases. A Freddie Mac spokesman declined to say how many borrowers have participated.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
10 Good jobs...remember...do what is natural...!!
10 Jobs With High Pay and Minimal Schooling Required!
by Michael Kling
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
provided by
You don't have to go to college earn a decent living. Some professions pay good salaries without requiring post-secondary schooling.
A college degree can be a great path towards a well-paying, satisfying profession, but a bachelor's degree isn't for everyone. In fact, some see advanced education as overrated. A surge in the number of college graduates have dampened the value of a college education. College comes intact with high tuition, room and board, and supplies fees - and that's not even factoring in debt payments that usually last for years, if not decades.
Trusting the 'Net
Beware of online lists of top-paying professions with little schooling. Some lists cite obscure professions or ones requiring long-term on-the-job training. Just because a profession doesn't officially require a degree is no indicator that and education wouldn't be advantageous, especially for inexperienced applicants in today's competitive job market.
Your New Career
Here's a list of top-paying jobs requiring little schooling, and their median annual earnings as of 2006, using the latest data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Keep in mind that these jobs have their own challenges and often require some type of specialized schooling - sometimes on-the-job training.
1. Air Traffic Controllers: $117,200
These workers make sure airplanes land and take off safely, and they typically top lists of this nature. The median 50% earned between $86,860-142,210, with good benefits. Air traffic controllers are eligible to retire at age 50 with 20 years of service, or after 25 years at any age.
Watching blinking dots on a radar screen that control the lives of hundreds can be stressful, and the job require specialized FAA schooling and on-the-job training. Typically, two to four years of training are needed in order to become fully certified, although previous military experience can cut that time down significantly.
2. Industrial Production Managers: $77,670
They oversee manufacturing activities. A college degree is preferred, but not necessarily mandatory. They often work in industries such as aviation and automobiles.
3. First-Line Police and Detective Supervisors: $69,300
Police officers can advance through the ranks to become supervisors by passing exams and achieving good performance reviews, and advanced training can help win promotions.
4. Funeral Director: $49,620
College programs in mortuary science usually last from two to four years. You typically must also serve a one-year apprenticeship, pass an exam and obtain a state license. Hours can be long and irregular. Dealing with dead bodies and crying relatives isn't for everyone.
5. Police and Sheriff Patrol Officers: $47,460
Police corporals had an average minimum annual base salary of $44,160, according to the International City-County Management Association. But total income can significantly exceed base salary because of overtime pay. And police officers can often retire at half-pay after 25-30 years of service.
Applicants usually must have at least a high school education, and some departments require a year or two of college or even a degree. Rookies are trained at police academies.
6. Advertising Sales Agents: $42,750
20% have a high school degree or less, and 10% have an Associate's degree.
7. Real Estate Brokers and Sales Agents: $39,760
Don't let that figure fool you; the highest 10% earned more than $111,500. While advanced coursework is not necessarily required, new entrants must pass an exam and get a state license. Connections in the community and a willingness to work hard are what really count, but experience and a good housing market also help.
8. Occupational Therapist Assistants: $42,060
These workers usually need an associate degree or a certificate. They work with occupational therapists, helping injured patients recover from, or compensate for, lost motor skills. Job prospects are good in the growing health care field, especially for those with some post-secondary education.
9. Occupational Therapist Aides: $25,000
These employees receive most training on the job. Under supervision of occupational therapists, they also work with injured people. Competition for jobs is tougher for those with only a high school diploma.
10. Physical Therapist Assistants: $41,360
These workers deal with physical therapists, helping patents improve mobility, relieve pain or overcome injuries or disabilities. Those working in home health care services tend to make more on average. Aides, earning an average of $22,000, are trained on the job. Assistants, who have greater responsibilities, typically need an associate's degree.
The Bottom Line
Despite a recession, plenty of career paths can lead to well-paying professions without spending four years or more hitting the books, including opportunities in law enforcement, health care and sales. The goal is to find a job that matches your own particular talents and preferences in addition to supporting your lifestyle.
by Michael Kling
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
provided by
You don't have to go to college earn a decent living. Some professions pay good salaries without requiring post-secondary schooling.
A college degree can be a great path towards a well-paying, satisfying profession, but a bachelor's degree isn't for everyone. In fact, some see advanced education as overrated. A surge in the number of college graduates have dampened the value of a college education. College comes intact with high tuition, room and board, and supplies fees - and that's not even factoring in debt payments that usually last for years, if not decades.
Trusting the 'Net
Beware of online lists of top-paying professions with little schooling. Some lists cite obscure professions or ones requiring long-term on-the-job training. Just because a profession doesn't officially require a degree is no indicator that and education wouldn't be advantageous, especially for inexperienced applicants in today's competitive job market.
Your New Career
Here's a list of top-paying jobs requiring little schooling, and their median annual earnings as of 2006, using the latest data available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Keep in mind that these jobs have their own challenges and often require some type of specialized schooling - sometimes on-the-job training.
1. Air Traffic Controllers: $117,200
These workers make sure airplanes land and take off safely, and they typically top lists of this nature. The median 50% earned between $86,860-142,210, with good benefits. Air traffic controllers are eligible to retire at age 50 with 20 years of service, or after 25 years at any age.
Watching blinking dots on a radar screen that control the lives of hundreds can be stressful, and the job require specialized FAA schooling and on-the-job training. Typically, two to four years of training are needed in order to become fully certified, although previous military experience can cut that time down significantly.
2. Industrial Production Managers: $77,670
They oversee manufacturing activities. A college degree is preferred, but not necessarily mandatory. They often work in industries such as aviation and automobiles.
3. First-Line Police and Detective Supervisors: $69,300
Police officers can advance through the ranks to become supervisors by passing exams and achieving good performance reviews, and advanced training can help win promotions.
4. Funeral Director: $49,620
College programs in mortuary science usually last from two to four years. You typically must also serve a one-year apprenticeship, pass an exam and obtain a state license. Hours can be long and irregular. Dealing with dead bodies and crying relatives isn't for everyone.
5. Police and Sheriff Patrol Officers: $47,460
Police corporals had an average minimum annual base salary of $44,160, according to the International City-County Management Association. But total income can significantly exceed base salary because of overtime pay. And police officers can often retire at half-pay after 25-30 years of service.
Applicants usually must have at least a high school education, and some departments require a year or two of college or even a degree. Rookies are trained at police academies.
6. Advertising Sales Agents: $42,750
20% have a high school degree or less, and 10% have an Associate's degree.
7. Real Estate Brokers and Sales Agents: $39,760
Don't let that figure fool you; the highest 10% earned more than $111,500. While advanced coursework is not necessarily required, new entrants must pass an exam and get a state license. Connections in the community and a willingness to work hard are what really count, but experience and a good housing market also help.
8. Occupational Therapist Assistants: $42,060
These workers usually need an associate degree or a certificate. They work with occupational therapists, helping injured patients recover from, or compensate for, lost motor skills. Job prospects are good in the growing health care field, especially for those with some post-secondary education.
9. Occupational Therapist Aides: $25,000
These employees receive most training on the job. Under supervision of occupational therapists, they also work with injured people. Competition for jobs is tougher for those with only a high school diploma.
10. Physical Therapist Assistants: $41,360
These workers deal with physical therapists, helping patents improve mobility, relieve pain or overcome injuries or disabilities. Those working in home health care services tend to make more on average. Aides, earning an average of $22,000, are trained on the job. Assistants, who have greater responsibilities, typically need an associate's degree.
The Bottom Line
Despite a recession, plenty of career paths can lead to well-paying professions without spending four years or more hitting the books, including opportunities in law enforcement, health care and sales. The goal is to find a job that matches your own particular talents and preferences in addition to supporting your lifestyle.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Numerology Anyone?
I thought this artical is worth consideration...It's the driving down the street and not noticing the trees analogy...check this out...
Number-Crushing: When Figures Get Personal Real-Estate Developers Factor In Love of 6 and 8, Fear of Unlucky 4 and 13;
What Happened to Floors 40 Through 59? By CARL BIALIK..
Everyone can agree that 1+1=2. But the idea that 7 is greater than 13 -- that some numbers are luckier than others -- makes no sense to some people. Such numerical biases can cause deep divisions.
And that is what happened earlier this month in Hong Kong. Property developer Henderson Land Development Co. made news for selling a condominium for $56.6 million, a price the developer called a residential record in Asia. But after that sale was announced, the property began making news for other unusual numbers. Henderson is labeling the floors of its property at 39 Conduit Road with numbers that increase, but not in the conventional 1-then-2 way. The floor above 39, for example, is 60. And the top three floors are consecutively labeled 66, 68 and 88.
When Numbers Add Up to More Than Math
Associated Press
In Las Vegas, where lucky numbers such as 7 are always welcome, couples gathered at Mandalay Bay to wed on July 7, 2007.
.This offended some people's sense of order. At a protest Sunday against high housing prices, Hong Kong Democratic Party legislators expressed dissatisfaction with the numbering scheme's tenuous relationship to reality. "You could call the ground floor the 88th floor, but it's meaningless," says Emily Lau. "When you say you live on the 88th floor, people expect you to be on the 88th floor, not the 10th floor or something."
Numerology, a belief that certain digits have greater meaning beyond merely their quantity, has long been been viewed as a kind of loony uncle to mathematics. Numerologists favor or fear certain numbers depending on factors such as the sound of the words for those numbers or the letter in the alphabet they correspond to. That kind of reasoning leads some mathematicians, who are governed by numerical laws and properties, to believe they have one up on numerologists.
But many mathematicians have their own emotional attachments to numbers that drove them to enter the field in the first place. Some will cop to having numerical crushes that might not look that different from numerologists'.
"The idea that numbers are somehow pure and immune to superstitious thinking, because they're somehow more 'objective' than words, doesn't take into account the fact that every concept exists (in our minds) in an interconnected tapestry of emotionally and culturally charged signifiers," Golan Levin, designer of the interactive project The Secret Lives of Numbers, which tracks the popularity of every whole number between one and one million, writes in an email. He considers most numerical superstitions harmless.
Thomas Garrity, a mathematician at Williams College, has always had a particular fondness for the number 9. The number 51, however, doesn't make his favorites list.
"This might stem from childhood, when I regularly thought that 51 should be prime, even though 51=3x17," he says, taking a trip down mathematical memory lane. But he doesn't base decisions on his preferences, for instance by avoiding the 51st floor of buildings, he says. "I can understand people having slightly irrational feelings about particular numbers," Prof. Garrity says. "I don't get, though, people making real decisions based on such feelings."
And yet some numerical superstitions do spread, especially when profits are involved. A Las Vegas casino that caters to Hong Kong high rollers also skips floors from 40 to 59, while Henderson's Hong Kong development omits the 13th floor to cater to Western tastes.
A Henderson spokeswoman says customers "don't want the fours and the unlucky numbers. These numbers are more interesting."
Henderson chose to name the floors as it did because of positive associations with 6 and 8, and negative ones with 4. In Cantonese and Mandarin, the word for eight sounds like "faat," which means prosperity. Hence the Beijing Olympics starting time of 8 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2008. The word for four, meanwhile, "sounds very much like 'death,' and is therefore avoided at all costs," says Hung-Hsi Wu, professor emeritus of mathematics at University of California, Berkeley, who was born in Hong Kong. Six is also considered lucky.
A preference for six over four also guided developers of the 42-floor Mandalay Bay casino in Las Vegas. There, penthouses are on the 60th, 61st and 62nd floor because Mandalay Bay skips the numbers 40 to 59.
Gordon Absher, spokesman for Mandalay owner MGM Mirage, says that decision was shaped by possible perceptions of high rollers when they are assigned to those floors. "You could think that we are trying to, as the casino, give you bad luck," Mr. Absher says.
Similarly, developers who would assuage fears of 13 can't avoid the existence of a 13th floor in buildings with 13 or more stories. But they can rename it out of existence. When a 13th floor was added to the Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City, in the 1930s, it was named the 14th floor. The hotel was shuttered in 1988 and reopened and renamed in 2007 by Hilton, which nonetheless kept the name for the top floor.
The 22-story headquarters of Chicago-based Marc Realty avoids throwing off the numbers in higher floors by labeling the 13th floor "14A." It labels the 14th floor "14B."
"That arrangement keeps the elevations of the upper floors straight in a physical sense," says Marc marketing coordinator Dan Krc. He adds that triskaidekaphobia, or fear of 13, appears to be fading, with floors labeled 13 in Marc properties showing occupancy rates are no lower than other floors.
The negative associations with 13 have been traced to the number of diners at the Last Supper, before the betrayal of Jesus. Some believed it went back to prehistoric times -- the lowest number that couldn't be counted on ten fingers and two feet. (Apparently, individual toes couldn't be counted).
But Underwood Dudley, retired professor of mathematics at Depauw University and author of "Numerology," says he wasn't able to verify any of these. "As far as I can tell, some number had to be unlucky, and it was 13," Dr. Dudley says.
Beverly Kay, a numerologist in Mequon, Wisc., doesn't buy fears of 13. However, she says her work reading meaning into clients' birth dates and names is consistent with math. "This is scientific," Ms. Kay says.
Psychologists and historians generally have tied such beliefs to the broader human tendency to seek patterns and systems where none exist. At its extreme, an emotional relationship to a number can creep into obsessive-compulsive behavior. In his book "Strange Brains and Genius," Clifford Pickover dug through case studies of numerical obsessive-compulsive disorder, and found that it could be tied to just about any numeral. Electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla demanded precisely 18 clean towels a day and showed an intense preference for multiples of three.
While mathematicians generally don't go to Tesla-like extremes, they possess a generally positive outlook about all numbers and that distinguishes them from numerologists, they say.
For example, Kenneth Ribet, a professor of mathematics at Berkeley, considers some prime numbers "friends," he says. One is 144,169, which reads like 12 squared followed by 13 squared; another the easily remembered number of 1,234,567,891.
"Mathematicians don't have numbers that they're afraid of or shy away from because we do really like all of the numbers," says Prof. Ribet. "On the other hand, some of us have favorites."
-- Jonathan Cheng in Hong Kong contributed to this article.
Learn more about this topic at WSJ.com/NumbersGuy. Email him at numbersguy@wsj.com.
Write to Carl Bialik at numbersguy@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
The Book of Revelation identifies 666 as the number of the beast. A graphic accompanying the Numbers Guy column on October 28 incorrectly called it the Book of Revelations.
Number-Crushing: When Figures Get Personal Real-Estate Developers Factor In Love of 6 and 8, Fear of Unlucky 4 and 13;
What Happened to Floors 40 Through 59? By CARL BIALIK..
Everyone can agree that 1+1=2. But the idea that 7 is greater than 13 -- that some numbers are luckier than others -- makes no sense to some people. Such numerical biases can cause deep divisions.
And that is what happened earlier this month in Hong Kong. Property developer Henderson Land Development Co. made news for selling a condominium for $56.6 million, a price the developer called a residential record in Asia. But after that sale was announced, the property began making news for other unusual numbers. Henderson is labeling the floors of its property at 39 Conduit Road with numbers that increase, but not in the conventional 1-then-2 way. The floor above 39, for example, is 60. And the top three floors are consecutively labeled 66, 68 and 88.
When Numbers Add Up to More Than Math
Associated Press
In Las Vegas, where lucky numbers such as 7 are always welcome, couples gathered at Mandalay Bay to wed on July 7, 2007.
.This offended some people's sense of order. At a protest Sunday against high housing prices, Hong Kong Democratic Party legislators expressed dissatisfaction with the numbering scheme's tenuous relationship to reality. "You could call the ground floor the 88th floor, but it's meaningless," says Emily Lau. "When you say you live on the 88th floor, people expect you to be on the 88th floor, not the 10th floor or something."
Numerology, a belief that certain digits have greater meaning beyond merely their quantity, has long been been viewed as a kind of loony uncle to mathematics. Numerologists favor or fear certain numbers depending on factors such as the sound of the words for those numbers or the letter in the alphabet they correspond to. That kind of reasoning leads some mathematicians, who are governed by numerical laws and properties, to believe they have one up on numerologists.
But many mathematicians have their own emotional attachments to numbers that drove them to enter the field in the first place. Some will cop to having numerical crushes that might not look that different from numerologists'.
"The idea that numbers are somehow pure and immune to superstitious thinking, because they're somehow more 'objective' than words, doesn't take into account the fact that every concept exists (in our minds) in an interconnected tapestry of emotionally and culturally charged signifiers," Golan Levin, designer of the interactive project The Secret Lives of Numbers, which tracks the popularity of every whole number between one and one million, writes in an email. He considers most numerical superstitions harmless.
Thomas Garrity, a mathematician at Williams College, has always had a particular fondness for the number 9. The number 51, however, doesn't make his favorites list.
"This might stem from childhood, when I regularly thought that 51 should be prime, even though 51=3x17," he says, taking a trip down mathematical memory lane. But he doesn't base decisions on his preferences, for instance by avoiding the 51st floor of buildings, he says. "I can understand people having slightly irrational feelings about particular numbers," Prof. Garrity says. "I don't get, though, people making real decisions based on such feelings."
And yet some numerical superstitions do spread, especially when profits are involved. A Las Vegas casino that caters to Hong Kong high rollers also skips floors from 40 to 59, while Henderson's Hong Kong development omits the 13th floor to cater to Western tastes.
A Henderson spokeswoman says customers "don't want the fours and the unlucky numbers. These numbers are more interesting."
Henderson chose to name the floors as it did because of positive associations with 6 and 8, and negative ones with 4. In Cantonese and Mandarin, the word for eight sounds like "faat," which means prosperity. Hence the Beijing Olympics starting time of 8 p.m. on Aug. 8, 2008. The word for four, meanwhile, "sounds very much like 'death,' and is therefore avoided at all costs," says Hung-Hsi Wu, professor emeritus of mathematics at University of California, Berkeley, who was born in Hong Kong. Six is also considered lucky.
A preference for six over four also guided developers of the 42-floor Mandalay Bay casino in Las Vegas. There, penthouses are on the 60th, 61st and 62nd floor because Mandalay Bay skips the numbers 40 to 59.
Gordon Absher, spokesman for Mandalay owner MGM Mirage, says that decision was shaped by possible perceptions of high rollers when they are assigned to those floors. "You could think that we are trying to, as the casino, give you bad luck," Mr. Absher says.
Similarly, developers who would assuage fears of 13 can't avoid the existence of a 13th floor in buildings with 13 or more stories. But they can rename it out of existence. When a 13th floor was added to the Skirvin Hotel in Oklahoma City, in the 1930s, it was named the 14th floor. The hotel was shuttered in 1988 and reopened and renamed in 2007 by Hilton, which nonetheless kept the name for the top floor.
The 22-story headquarters of Chicago-based Marc Realty avoids throwing off the numbers in higher floors by labeling the 13th floor "14A." It labels the 14th floor "14B."
"That arrangement keeps the elevations of the upper floors straight in a physical sense," says Marc marketing coordinator Dan Krc. He adds that triskaidekaphobia, or fear of 13, appears to be fading, with floors labeled 13 in Marc properties showing occupancy rates are no lower than other floors.
The negative associations with 13 have been traced to the number of diners at the Last Supper, before the betrayal of Jesus. Some believed it went back to prehistoric times -- the lowest number that couldn't be counted on ten fingers and two feet. (Apparently, individual toes couldn't be counted).
But Underwood Dudley, retired professor of mathematics at Depauw University and author of "Numerology," says he wasn't able to verify any of these. "As far as I can tell, some number had to be unlucky, and it was 13," Dr. Dudley says.
Beverly Kay, a numerologist in Mequon, Wisc., doesn't buy fears of 13. However, she says her work reading meaning into clients' birth dates and names is consistent with math. "This is scientific," Ms. Kay says.
Psychologists and historians generally have tied such beliefs to the broader human tendency to seek patterns and systems where none exist. At its extreme, an emotional relationship to a number can creep into obsessive-compulsive behavior. In his book "Strange Brains and Genius," Clifford Pickover dug through case studies of numerical obsessive-compulsive disorder, and found that it could be tied to just about any numeral. Electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla demanded precisely 18 clean towels a day and showed an intense preference for multiples of three.
While mathematicians generally don't go to Tesla-like extremes, they possess a generally positive outlook about all numbers and that distinguishes them from numerologists, they say.
For example, Kenneth Ribet, a professor of mathematics at Berkeley, considers some prime numbers "friends," he says. One is 144,169, which reads like 12 squared followed by 13 squared; another the easily remembered number of 1,234,567,891.
"Mathematicians don't have numbers that they're afraid of or shy away from because we do really like all of the numbers," says Prof. Ribet. "On the other hand, some of us have favorites."
-- Jonathan Cheng in Hong Kong contributed to this article.
Learn more about this topic at WSJ.com/NumbersGuy. Email him at numbersguy@wsj.com.
Write to Carl Bialik at numbersguy@wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications
The Book of Revelation identifies 666 as the number of the beast. A graphic accompanying the Numbers Guy column on October 28 incorrectly called it the Book of Revelations.
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