CHANGING PERSPECTIVES
While people born in the 1970s and 80s experienced the housing boom, those born in the 1990s and 2000s had a much more mediocre experience, said Associate Professor Laura Wu from Nanyang Technological University’s School of Social Sciences.
This has prompted “different investment decisions” from those of the previous generation, she said.
Having witnessed the generations before them suffer steep losses in the current downturn, some young adults whom CNA spoke to are no longer as bent on owning a home compared with their parents.
“Renting a place to live is actually a very good option now. I don’t think it’s necessary to be fixated on buying a house. Some people may see owning a home as a form of persistence, but I think letting go of that obsession and experiencing other things might actually be better,” a young Harbin resident told CNA.
Another young resident said: “Buying a house is no longer for investment, but to have a sense of belonging in the city.”
She added: “Having a home feels warm, and it’s more about enjoying a better environment.”
The changing perspective is bad news for authorities who have, in their efforts to prop up the ailing property sector, pledged to increase the supply of government-subsidised homes to meet the needs of young people among other measures.
The housing ministry late last year laid out a slew of moves to boost housing demand and stabilise China’s real estate market.
“Housing demand fundamentally depends on income growth rate and population growth rate. Now, for both indicators, these growth rates are going to be much lower than the previous four decades, so there is no reason to believe it’s going to be really high housing price increase in the near future,” said Ms Wu.