According to a recent survey by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate and the Asian Real Estate Association of America, ancient design philosophy, feng shui, plays a role in the home-buying decisions of 86 percent of Chinese-Americans. Moreover, 79 percent said they would actually pay more for a home that follows feng shui principles. 36 percent responded that they would not use a real estate agent who wasn’t familiar with feng shui.

The key design elements that violate feng shui principles include: a house located at the end of a dead end street; the back stairs directly facing the front door; a sloped backyard; and the front and back doors being aligned with each other.

Analysts agree that the Asian American community’s influence in real estate will only continue to grow and more and more real estate developers and interior designers are being influenced by feng shui.