Business Notes HOUSING

With the real estate market slumping, some homeowners think it takes a miracle to sell a house these days. Not just any broker can perform one, so many sellers are turning to an expert: St. Joseph. Religious-goods merchants in several cities have been surprised at the brisk sales of St. Joseph statues, which homeowners bury in their yards in the belief the saint will drum up some business. The hopeful sellers inter the statues headfirst, with the feet toward heaven.

Believers have sought the saint's help in household matters for centuries. St. Joseph, a carpenter, was handy around the house, after all. The Catholic Church has no objection to such appeals for intercession, but brokers, complained Father James Coen, head of the Catholic Information Center, to the New York Daily News, "are turning this into a first-class sales gimmick." Successful sellers are advised to exhume the statue and enshrine it in their new home. Co-op owners who have no yards may have to pray to someone else: St. Jude, patron of lost causes.