Demand outrunning supply has traditionally been cited as the reason for the
high price of Beijing housing, but a recent survey provides a different
perspective.
Rich people sitting on a stock of unused houses are keeping
real estate prices up, according to the report by the Beijing Real Estate
Association, an organization established in 1986.
Unused houses
outnumber unsold houses in Beijing, said the survey.
The survey agreed
with an earlier report by the Beijing Statistical Bureau that one tenth of
Beijing's population have more than one apartment.
While some rich
people may have many houses, many low-income people have none.
The
report said that while around 10,000 economic houses were provided to low-income
earners in 2006, Beijing has more than 130,000 families that qualify for this
kind of housing.
So only one out of 13 families actually has an economic
apartment.
Beijing has 14,000 cheap rental houses, but they can
accommodate less than one percent of the city's population of 15 million, which
is totally inadequate, said the report.
More than 70,000 families living
on the lowest allowance of 310 yuan (about 40 US dollars) are queuing for an
apartment, according to the report.
Residential real estate costs around
9,000-10,000 yuan (about 1150-1280 US dollars) per square km on average in
Beijing whereas economic housing cost about 4,000 yuan (about 510 US dollars),
said the report.
Real estate prices will increase by 11 to 14 percent in
2007, a slightly lower increase than in 2006, according to a market report
released by Jones Lang LaSalle, an international property consultant and
investor.
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