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Don’t Get Haunted: 5 Ghost Month Dos & Don’ts

Published 3 September 2025

The Southeast Asian Chinese are pretty superstitious. From avoiding the number 4 (which sounds like the Chinese word for death) and lauding the number 8 (a homophone of the Chinese word for ‘prosper’) to a host of other things they have to look out for during different festive seasons or observances, they tend to adhere to these practices even if they don’t quite buy or understand them.

When Is the Hungry Ghost Month Festival?

Hungry Ghost Month 2024 Start: Sunday, 4 August, the first lunar day of the seventh month in the Chinese calendar
Hungry Ghost Month 2024 End: Tuesday, 3 September, the first lunar day of the eighth lunar month
Main Hungry Ghost Festival 2024: Sunday, 18 August, the 15th night of the seventh lunar month

Meanwhile, the 2025 Ghost Month starts on Saturday, 23 August 2025, and ends on Sunday, 21 September. The Hungry Ghost Festival is on Saturday, 6 September. Expect the 2026 Ghost Month to begin on Thursday, August 27.

This period is deeply rooted in Chinese tradition. Offerings and rituals are performed to honour and appease the spirits of the deceased, especially during the Lunar Seventh Month, better known as the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival, when the level of superstition skyrockets to a mildly paranoid level. During Hungry Ghost Month, it is believed the gates of the underworld open to release all the spirits of the dead, much like a holiday month for them, when they are free to roam the earth.

Unlike Halloween, though, which is celebrated with tricks or treats, the Hungry Ghost Festival is regarded with much reverence — and a healthy dose of fear — as they observe some eerie superstitions to avoid offending or crossing paths with wandering spirits.

Below, we go through a few property-related superstitions homeowners may want to look out for during this period.

Property Superstitions During Hungry Ghost Month

1. Do Take In Your Laundry Before the Sun Sets
2. Do Hold Off the Renovations
3. Don’t Leave Your Door Open at Night
4. Don’t Move Into a New Home
5. Do Get Professional Advice on Purchasing a New Property
Frequently Asked Questions About Hungry Ghost Month

1. Do Take In Your Laundry Before the Sun Sets

It is ill-advised to hang laundry out overnight to dry during this period. There are several superstitions tied to this. One belief is that smoke from burnt offerings may cling to your laundry, causing it to smell of incense, which may attract wandering spirits. Another is that damp clothing attracts spirits to ‘try on’ your clothes and ‘follow’ you into the house.

Both ideas are equally spine-chilling, but logically speaking, it is rare for anyone to hang their laundry out overnight, given that our unpredictable weather is prone to sudden showers and storms in the middle of the night. Morning dew is also counter-effective in drying your clothes and may give them a ‘dank’ stench from the moisture.

If you have a habit of hanging laundry out overnight due to an overly hectic work schedule, you may want to invest in a good dryer or switch out your washer for one that comes with a dryer if space constraints are an issue. Now you can luxuriate in the joy of always having freshly laundered clothes that are properly dried.

2. Do Hold Off the Renovations

Legend has it that you will anger resting spirits with the noise created through a Ghost Month house renovation. Other beliefs include renovation processes going awry or workers inexplicably getting injured in the process of carrying out renovation works.

Home renovations during Hungry Ghost Month can still be carried out, but you may want to keep a strict schedule and have all reno work end before sunset.

This also helps you avoid angering your resting neighbours, which could go a long way in ensuring you are welcome in your neighbourhood. Besides, general renovations in HDB flats are only permitted to occur from Monday to Saturday, between 9 am and 6 pm.

3. Don’t Leave Your Door Open at Night

While we don’t personally know anyone who does this, despite Singapore being one of the safest countries to live in, we’d still like to remind our beloved homeowners to keep their homes’ main doors closed and locked at night.

Besides wandering spirits, an open door is an invitation for crime and ill intentions, and does not bode well in feng shui either, as it allows yin energy — which is the strongest at night — to enter your home.

If you have a habit of forgetting to shut or lock your main door, consider getting a door with an auto-close and auto-lock function. A cheaper option, instead of replacing your entire door, would be to install a self-closing door hinge and install a digital lock that automatically bolts your door when it is fully closed, so you never have to worry about intruders, human or spectral.

4. Don’t Move Into a New Home

You’ve done most of the steps needed prior to moving, like property valuation and listing, and just when you’ve finally sold your flat and about to move into the new one, the dreaded ghost month rolls in.

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Moving house during ghost month comes with the eerie belief that you may find yourself with unwanted housemates — and we’re not talking about pests for which you can call in an exterminator.

There are several ways to circumvent this. While the most obvious method is to simply wait out the Hungry Ghost Month and move in after, there are also ‘cheat codes’, such as doing a ‘false move-in’ before the Chinese Seventh Month begins.

You could get your contractor or designer to quickly complete the main bedroom, or at least have it in a relatively livable condition, and stay one night in it before the Seventh Month. You could also cook a pot of rice in your kitchen as a declaration that you have officially moved in, so when you do actually take up residence during the Seventh Month post-renovations, it will be taken that you have been living in the house all along.

5. Do Get Professional Advice on Purchasing a New Property

In previous years, buyers have held off on buying a new property during Hungry Ghost Month. Reports showed that new private home sales fell drastically during Hungry Ghost Month in 2016. This could also have been due to developers pushing back project launches due to the inauspicious sentiments tied to the season.

However, in recent years, new launch sales have remained robust, and even taken an upsurge during Hungry Ghost Month as superstitions fly out the window, likely due to the combination of low supply of available properties, as well as pent-up demand from buyers. In August of last year, the Business Times reported that private property resale volume rose despite it being Hungry Ghost Month.

Alternatively, you could also get a feng shui master to help you select an auspicious date to complete your property purchase.

If you are looking to invest in a new property, getting a new launch that has yet to TOP may just be a win-win situation for you. Property transactions may be known to dip during this month, as investors or new homeowners avoid purchasing new property, but new launch sales could remain robust depending on the housing market at the time.

But with the stretched completion timeline of new launches, you may even land yourself a good deal if developers decide to launch special promotions to drive sales during what they may fear is a ‘lull period’ for sales!

Regardless of your beliefs, Ohmyhome is here to help you make prudent home-buying decisions that will benefit you and your family!

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