In China, when a man gets married generally his parents will buy the house for him. The wife's family is usually responsible for the decoration and furniture.
In many cases the husband's parents will sometimes spend their entire life savings to buy the house outright, generally with the expectation that their son will care for them in their old age. If the man comes from a poor family, the parents will try to "borrow" money from family and friends first. Sometimes the loans are just not paid back, and sometimes the loans are interest free.
From what I can tell using the bank to get a mortgage is only done as a last resort.
In short, mommy and daddy are how regular people can afford crazy house prices. Keep this in mind when comparing income to housing price ratios. Being a foreigner sometimes puts us at a disadvantage, but at least for the time being our salaries are high enough compared to average Chinese to allow us to buy a home in a 5-10 year time frame using our own money provided one lives modestly and saves.
We have a place in Pudong, Lujiazui, in one of the sought after developments, and it is under 60k. This is an apartment, not a house, it is not a development that caters specifically for expats.
If you are looking at Sheraton Pudong, or Shanghai Riviera, or other places with English speaking management, then yes you are looking at more money. But in fairness these are not comparable with regular prices in NY etc.
en.....i think normally (well...to me,it is true,and i am a chinese woman),girls or women who are indeed for a relationship,they care abt the look.it really doesnt mean you must be good looking,handsome or.just need "not dislike".it is the basic to go on.About money problem,also women who are not ATM hunters,they wont care too much,just hope you could have income and could afford yourself.The status....i dont know whats the real meaning,you mean the job??
I have to say,with the relationship moving on,look obviously should not be concerned anymore or the relationship wont start,money maybe would become more important if you both consider abt a bit further future.
i saw some ppl refered house.In china,i think it is also a..."mission impossible" to most foreigners in china even foreigners get higher income than locals.buying a house is pressure pressure pressure....:) by the way,the house price in kunming is ok,acceptable compared to horrible 帝都 and 大上海,呵呵。
@Anonymous Coward, the husband's parents don't always buy the couple a house, there may be cases amongst fu er dais, but then again it's not all of them. Many of my friends are saving to buy their own home, and several are doing it as a couple.
Also, the statement about foreigners buying with their own money is not always accurate. I've known a few foreigners in Beijing who were living on mum and dad's finances. One German guy liked to show off his BMW and condo on his WeChat account to impress the girls. He then admitted to me that those were all paid by his parents, even the place he rented in Beijing and the money he spent there. Another Saudi girl also had all her world trip fees paid by her dad, who was an oil magnate. I could go on, but I need to go make my oatmeal.
I never said the husbands parents *always* buy them a house. I said generally. I personally do not know a single Chinese couple where I am living whose parents did not buy their house. I am talking about 50 to 100 couples I have met over the past 3 years. Everyone is shocked my parents didn't buy ME a house.
I also didn't say foreign parents *never* buy their kid's houses. It's not part of our culture though. While I have heard of such things happening, I personally do not know of anyone with nice parents like that. They will sometimes contribute to the down payment or buy their kids a car, but buying a house outright must be incredibly rare. The examples you give are from moneyed families, I am talking about common people.
Buying a house outright is incredibly rare. What is more common is the parents help secure the down payment for the house. If you want a mortgage, the banks demand 1/3. If you are going to find some other means of credit, the regulations require 20% deposit.
Question: is a wife expected to work? Ie paid job.
Tigertigers estimation of the mortgage situation is current, i think. Parents buying house outright is a thing of the past, its a fable from 10 years ago. Mortgage loans went from 9% of GDP to 16% between 2007 and 2010, 'nuff said.
However I am pretty sure that the regulations regarding downpayment have been applied in a most flimsy manner.
I come from european rural background. 30 years ago the mans parents would generally build a new house for the married couple, physically build it themselves, on their own land. That man was a good catch and the girls family would quickly agree to the match. That same cultural phenomenon is also in china but nobody heeded the difference between building for free, and borrowing 100 years worth of salary.
...and, in that last post above, I'm still not taking interest rates into consideration. Lets say, 250 years worth of salary then, shall we? Still to be repaid over 30 years, of course..
Anonymous: 50 to 100 couples of common people' had their houses given to them by husband's parents? Strikes me as doubtful - how do you define 'common people'?
And what do you mean about 'our culture' - that of all non-Chinese?
How is it that, in discussing the world, so many people often get left out of consideration?
