Homes Sell 5.2% Cheaper and Flights Cost 16% Less on Friday 13th

Houses completing on Friday 13th sold for a median of £275,000 in 2026 so far — 5.2% below the wider annual median of £290,000. That figure comes from Homebuyer.Agency, an independent residential buying agency, and it shows how a superstition translates directly into price.

Today marks the third Friday 13th of 2026. That is the maximum number of times the date can occur in any Gregorian calendar year, and 2026 is the only such year this decade. The last year with three Friday 13ths was 2015.

What does the date cost businesses?

The wedding industry takes the hardest hit. A 2015 survey found 31% of respondents would avoid getting married on a Friday 13th. That reduces bookings for venues, florists and photographers.

"We've had zero weddings booked for a Friday 13th this year, next year, 2028 or 2029!" says Sky McGuire, wedding and event coordinator at Burnham Beeches hotel in Buckinghamshire. She recalls one couple who wanted to marry on a Friday in August that matched their anniversary week. It fell on the 13th, so they booked the 14th instead.

Caroline Smyth, a photographer and celebrant in Larne, Northern Ireland, has worked one Friday 13th wedding in 14 years of business. "I definitely think it is down to the fact that it's a date surrounded by superstition. People are maybe afraid it's a bad omen for their marriage," she says. That single job, in September 2013, was her first wedding shoot — and it launched her career.

Bakery chain Cake Box sees the pattern in retail behaviour too. "After months or even years of planning, it's understandable that even those who aren't usually superstitious might think twice about tempting fate, whether that's unexpected rain or the dreaded thought of the wedding cake taking a tumble!" says Tara Cunningham, the company's head of marketing. She adds that some couples order wedding cakes online rather than "venturing out on a supposedly unlucky day".

Where does the fear come from?

The origins are unclear. In Norse mythology, Loki crashed a banquet in Valhalla as the 13th guest and murdered the host's servant Fimafeng. In Christianity, Judas sat 13th at the Last Supper, and the crucifixion is believed to have fallen on a Friday. Others point to Friday 13 October 1307, when hundreds of Knights Templar were arrested for heresy.

The superstition spread through 19th-century France. In 1834, Revue de Paris published a piece about a Sicilian count who killed his daughter on Friday 13th, stating: "It is always Fridays and the number 13 that bring bad luck!" The same year, the play Les Finesses des Gribouilles included the line about being born on Friday 13 December 1813, "from which come all of my misfortunes". More recent anchors include the "Friday 13th mini-crash" of 13 October 1989 and the Jason Voorhees horror franchise.

Is there money to be made?

Yes, if you fly. Demand-based pricing drops when fewer people book. "Last year, flights departing on Friday 13 June were 16% cheaper on average compared with the rest of June," says Rachel Mumford of Kayak. That meant "savings of about £66, so less superstitious Britons may have secured a better deal".

Stuart Vyse, a psychologist and author of Superstition: A Very Short Introduction, says the fear persists in commerce. Many airports skip gate 13. In the US, almost 80% of buildings that could have a 13th floor do not have one. "People are not forced to confront their fear and thereby get over it," he says.

Is the date actually dangerous?

The data splits. A 2013 Aviation Safety Network analysis found 0.067 fatal accidents on average on Friday 13th versus 0.091 on other dates — marginally safer. But insurer Aviva found in 2014 that motor collision claims rose 13% on Friday 13th compared with other days in the same month. Igor Radun, a psychology researcher at the University of Helsinki, says anxious drivers may concentrate worse, but evidence of increased accident risk remains "small-to-moderate and inconsistent".

The superstition is not universal. Spain and Greece fear Tuesday 13th, Italy fears Friday 17th, and Japan and China treat the fourth day of the fourth month as unlucky because "four" sounds like the word for death.

For bargain hunters and sellers willing to time the calendar, the pattern offers a simple edge: buy the flight, question the house price.