Interesting...housing as other hot items for the moment won't crash, rather going down slowly for number of years. It will screw people with mortgage up to their chin if something were to happen, they would have to choose which bills to pay, which possessions to let go, etc..etc...I'm sure in another five years someone will come to sum up performance between market and housing compared to inflation...well, as usual.
Here in Shanghai housing market has its own life. Shanghainese or whoever bought believe china will surpass hongkong, shanghai's property price is only a fraction of that in HK therefore upside is big or so they thought. The truth is chinese in general prefers brand new house, some believe it's bad luck to live in used house, previously owned market is not as established as it is in US unless they are special such as the shikunmen - the old lane houses. Besides, newer properties have better design, cleaner, better amenities...maintenance here is an issue, within 3-4 years the buildings can look worn out. Developers are trying to finish as soon as they can, use cheaper materials, cheap lobby...fat margin, I suppose.
As for comparison, recent apartment about 1800 sf that I know of within Grade A office location recently is sold for 600K while renting there is only $1,750 a month....go figure. Believe it or not, elevators and lobby have no AC!! Compare to the same location in another far east country, Indonesia, for 700K you will get private elevator, 3500 sf, marble and granite finish. Oh my......
Here in Shanghai housing market has its own life. Shanghainese or whoever bought believe china will surpass hongkong, shanghai's property price is only a fraction of that in HK therefore upside is big or so they thought. The truth is chinese in general prefers brand new house, some believe it's bad luck to live in used house, previously owned market is not as established as it is in US unless they are special such as the shikunmen - the old lane houses. Besides, newer properties have better design, cleaner, better amenities...maintenance here is an issue, within 3-4 years the buildings can look worn out. Developers are trying to finish as soon as they can, use cheaper materials, cheap lobby...fat margin, I suppose.
As for comparison, recent apartment about 1800 sf that I know of within Grade A office location recently is sold for 600K while renting there is only $1,750 a month....go figure. Believe it or not, elevators and lobby have no AC!! Compare to the same location in another far east country, Indonesia, for 700K you will get private elevator, 3500 sf, marble and granite finish. Oh my......