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Home » Opinion » Chinese Views
When costly housing leads to life of sin
Source: Xinhua |
November 27, 2009, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IN the hit Chinese television drama - "Living Like A Snail" - one of the main characters becomes the mistress of a government official to help repay her elder sister's mortgage.
The 35-episode series has touched a raw nerve in the audience, which sympathizes with the characters' moral dilemmas.
The story follows the trials of two full sisters struggling to buy affordable apartments in an unnamed big city that resembles Shanghai, where housing prices have soared beyond the lifetime disposable incomes of most people.
"I was deeply moved though I don't think it was the right decision," says Beijing office worker Zhou Yuan of the younger sister's decision to become a kept woman.
But the characters are simply mirroring the choices that many urban Chinese are facing every day as the booming real estate market erodes their dreams of becoming home owners.
"They epitomize a large group of urban young people tormented by material desires and anxiety in daily life," says Professor Zhang Yiwu of Peking University. "Just like snails carrying a heavy shell."
The government launched a sweeping reform of the housing market in the late 1990s, scrapping the government allocation of homes to urban workers.
Since the reform, property development has boomed. Strong demand and scarce land resources have driven up prices, as more people move to big cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
The stress of home-buying has twisted the values of some people, especially the young, who are often forced to give up their independence and self-reliance, says Zhang.
The Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau reports that the city's average annual income in 2008 was 44,715 yuan (US$6,546), while urban apartments were selling for an average 15,581 yuan per square meter.
An apartment of 80 square meters costs almost 1.25 million yuan, which would require a household of two wage-earners to repay with half their salaries for 30 years - not counting the interest.
In China, home buyers are required to pay at least 25 percent as a down payment. Parents have traditionally channeled their savings into their children's homes, which is one of the reasons Chinese save more, but spend less.
However, house prices will keep rising in 2010, according to a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on November 16. Professor Wang Fuzhong, of the Beihang University finance department, blames the economic structure in which local governments profit greatly from the property industry.
A survey by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shows low-income home construction in 2009 was behind target with only 23.6 percent investment realized by the end of August.
Government subsidized affordable homes help curtail the rise prices. The government is also encouraging young people to rent before they buy, and plans to build public rental housing to relieve the pressure.
But the popular concept of owning a home as a requirement for marriage is driving many young couples apart as the dream becomes unattainable.
The 35-episode series has touched a raw nerve in the audience, which sympathizes with the characters' moral dilemmas.
The story follows the trials of two full sisters struggling to buy affordable apartments in an unnamed big city that resembles Shanghai, where housing prices have soared beyond the lifetime disposable incomes of most people.
"I was deeply moved though I don't think it was the right decision," says Beijing office worker Zhou Yuan of the younger sister's decision to become a kept woman.
But the characters are simply mirroring the choices that many urban Chinese are facing every day as the booming real estate market erodes their dreams of becoming home owners.
"They epitomize a large group of urban young people tormented by material desires and anxiety in daily life," says Professor Zhang Yiwu of Peking University. "Just like snails carrying a heavy shell."
The government launched a sweeping reform of the housing market in the late 1990s, scrapping the government allocation of homes to urban workers.
Since the reform, property development has boomed. Strong demand and scarce land resources have driven up prices, as more people move to big cities like Beijing and Shanghai.
The stress of home-buying has twisted the values of some people, especially the young, who are often forced to give up their independence and self-reliance, says Zhang.
The Beijing Municipal Statistics Bureau reports that the city's average annual income in 2008 was 44,715 yuan (US$6,546), while urban apartments were selling for an average 15,581 yuan per square meter.
An apartment of 80 square meters costs almost 1.25 million yuan, which would require a household of two wage-earners to repay with half their salaries for 30 years - not counting the interest.
In China, home buyers are required to pay at least 25 percent as a down payment. Parents have traditionally channeled their savings into their children's homes, which is one of the reasons Chinese save more, but spend less.
However, house prices will keep rising in 2010, according to a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on November 16. Professor Wang Fuzhong, of the Beihang University finance department, blames the economic structure in which local governments profit greatly from the property industry.
A survey by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shows low-income home construction in 2009 was behind target with only 23.6 percent investment realized by the end of August.
Government subsidized affordable homes help curtail the rise prices. The government is also encouraging young people to rent before they buy, and plans to build public rental housing to relieve the pressure.
But the popular concept of owning a home as a requirement for marriage is driving many young couples apart as the dream becomes unattainable.
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