Owning home is better choice
Updated: 2007-06-20 07:05
Long Yongtu, secretary-general of the Boao Forum for Asia, said at a recent forum in Nanjing that it was not a "correct choice" that everyone wants to purchase their own home. He suggested more Chinese rent homes as in the US. About 30 percent of Americans own their homes while more than 60 percent rent. His remarks triggered a surge of media comments. The following are excerpts.
 Long Yongtu, the former commerce ministry official who negotiated China'sWTOentry, gestures at a speech in Nanjing in this October 24, 2005 file photo. [newsphoto]  |
Long is not the first official encouraging people to rent an apartment instead of buying one. Neither is he the only one attributing the preference of owning a home to a traditional perception of property and family.
However, this preference is actually backed by economic calculations. Closely connected to property prices, rents are also climbing as real estates become more expensive.
People also find it more economical to own a home rather than rent when they estimate the costs of moving between rental apartments.
Most rental apartments in China are not necessarily well equipped for instant move-in. The tenants may have to buy their own furniture or TV sets. To make things worse, the items they need to buy could vary dramatically in different rental apartments.
It consumes both time and effort to find apartments on their own if tenants do not want to pay large sums to housing agents.
More importantly, the supply of apartments for rent is far less than the demand. The reasonably priced housing built by the government is only available for sale, not for rent. Such housing would be an ideal choice for low-income earners if they were allowed to rent instead of buy.
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