Monday, May 10, 2010

Crazy Chinese Property Prices


As everyone knows by now property prices are crazy in many parts of China. When compared to incomes they are far far higher than in countries like Australia where property prices are already ridiculously high. My mother in law reported that in their neighborhood (picture above) prices have reached RMB 14,000 per square metre. This is the usual way of measuring prices in China. This price is AUD 2300 per square metre or USD 190 per square foot. A 100 square metre apartment is, therefore, about $200k. This would be cheap in Australia and a decent price in cheaper areas of the US. But incomes in China are much lower. She claims that her apartment is 170 square metres. So it would sell for USD 350k or AUD 390k. This is in the suburbs of Tianjin, which is one of the wealthier cities in China (after Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen). But still. When they moved there in 2002 prices were RMB 3400 per square metre so the unit would have cost USD 85k. They didn't actually pay this. My stepfather's workplace gave them the apartment as part of a retirement package which involved them giving up their old apartment.

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