Shanghaiist: Living in Shanghai: Buy or rent?

dadalama

Thu, 04 May 2006 14:04:25 +0800

I heard that the down payment is 40% for ppl who are not Chinese citizens. The real estate bubble is getting really out of hand, here. Young couples earning a combined monthly total of 13000RMB would buy a 2-million apartment! Of course their aged parents come up with the down payment......so basically, the real estate developers in China are robbing old folks of their retirement fund, in a government-sponsored, nation-wide scam. You can also sense the curious rivalry with Beijing, when you chat with Shanghai-nese, many of whom seem to be proud of the fact that Shanghai housing price has made it far less livable than Beijing. How would Shanghai stay competitive like this?

Zat Liu

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 18:37:12 +0800

what's a 内小房, lawrence?

Lawrence sheed

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 15:53:06 +0800

Currently its better to rent. Buying a place means 30% cash down. Mean's monthly repayments. You still need to pay management fee's as well. Your average 1 Million apartment will cost you about 7-8000RMB a month to service with fee's, mortgage and other ancilliary expenses. You can rent a decent apartment in that range for +-4000. It was worthwhile buying property a few years ago. I bought my first shack (ok, 内小房) in 2000. Sold that a year later, paid the rent for my next place up front for a year, and waited for the right apartment to come along. I bought the next one at the right time, and allegedly the price has doubled, although its not as easy to sell as the market would have you believe. I've found and rented a suitable 1 bedroom in a central location for 1000RMB (although I had to spend a couple of days fumigating, painting and throwing out the landlords crap), so its definitely a renters market ;)

Jay

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 13:25:27 +0800

Sadly, it stopped being an irony long time ago, ppl have all but resigned to the fact. Worse yet, in some corners of this city, ppl seem to display a rather perverse pride about locals NOT being able to afford to purchase a home, cuz what can be further proof that the city has indeed arrived on the international stage? I really can't argue w/ that logic.

Zat Liu

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 11:55:28 +0800

Don't you think the irony of being a native Shanghainese but couldn't buy a small apartment in her home town? I'm not sure how this works in Shanghai but Chinese tradition is it's important to have your own property.

markg

Fri, 28 Apr 2006 08:58:13 +0800

Does being Shanghainese have any bearing on whether or not to buy real estate in Shanghai?

Zat Liu

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 22:49:00 +0800

I know, Paul, but I have to this again, "well, this is China."

Paul

Wed, 26 Apr 2006 16:26:01 +0800

uumm...rising prices dampening consumers desire to buy - what a conundrum!