Sprint has worked for me too, but it was a few years ago.

When we looked at renting a commercial property in Kunming a few years ago, we looked at property in Xishan district, outside of the inner ring road, and we only looked for small privately owned units; not the big developments like Nanya or Aegean.

We looked at about 30 units, in different areas from Dianchi Weichen, to smaller residential areas. We looked at prop of different age, level of decoration, and in some cases disrepair. We looked at what might be considered areas of high footfall, and dead areas. All of the properties that were for rent had one thing in common, the rent sqm/mth was the same. That would suggest some outside factor was at play. One can only guess what that might have been. It might have been government guidance, it might have been some real estate trade association fixing a suggested price. The latter suggestion would perhaps fix owner's expectations. I have noticed a culture that if things are undersold (or perceived to be) the general focus of comments is on the money you 'should be' getting. These comments will come from family and friends who are all 'experts' in money matters.
One other thing we did find in our search, that may explain runs of empty commercial units in mixed developments, a lot of it was never sold and it kind of has no owner other than the real estate developer. In one development we were told that there was an agreement with owners of domestic units not to develop the commercial units underneath their homes. In the case in question, the commercial units were on the ground floor of low rise (6-7 floors) blocks.

Right, some kind of price fixing would explain a lot, especially since the enforcement on that front is spotty at best here.

Where large real estate companies are involved, another factor is that the foregone short-term rent is pocket change in the context of their overall portfolio. And perhaps it's better for them to hold the line on their handful of empty properties than to risk setting a precedent that could lead to a broader decline in leasing prices across the entirety of their holdings.

There is an empty commercial stretch near where I live that's developer-owned and has been a virtual ghost town for a good number of years. It appears that whoever was initially responsible for planning and calculating foot traffic screwed up -- virtually no one walks through there even though there are flourishing rows of shops a few dozen yards away.

In the past in China there was a regulation, that a percentage of every domestic development had to be commercial units, and another percentage for public areas. I am not sure if those regulations still stand. This is one reason for a surplus of commercial units in places where they are not needed. There is a logic however, as it prevents large housing developments with no shops or other facilities. Several developments like this in the same district would lead to whole areas being serviceless. This is a problem with some large modern housing developments in the UK. Planning permission for large developments in the UK has a requirement for services and other public facilities now.

Thats 40.000 usd and for that money u get a three story house in andalucia, a cottage with olive trees in italy, or something nice near rain forests of costa rica.

Just sayin,... but sure, its far away, if u want to be slurping fake oil and that stuff, and then jump on a train, to a noisy and polluted megacity, with asia wife, its not too convenient for a weekend in toscana. Whats so cool about asia anymore, not a corner not crumbling, hardly a tree left, not a river unpolluted.

bashing asia on a forum in asia .. ha ha ... i guess you're not running a popularity contest.

There are 80,000 plus Chinese folks that are living in Sihanoukville, Cambodia , from what I read. Also, there are tons of Chinese folks who bought Portugese Golden Visas for 250 000 Euros.

Where would you prefer to live Peter? It's a trick question!

If you go to a hospital in Cambodia with a sore throat, they'll remove your appendix. But the tax rates for businesses are 10% compared to Portugal's 82%. Ha ha. Not to mention you will need to rob a bank to get 250 000 Euros. Ha ha.

Homes in Sicilian villages were selling for one dollar. Perhaps for good reason. "Crumbling" comes to mind.

These days, not even the Amazon rainforest is safe from deforestation. Nor its rivers free from industrial water pollution.

Ghost-town countrysides is great for a two-week meditation retreat. May help in mindful flipping of your remote cottage.

Mega cities, particularly capital cities in emerging markets, maintain historical resiliency to housing price downturn if not steady growth rates.

Gov. infrastructural investments in hospitals, schools, and transportation, etc., (deemed important by potential buyers) may be sorely lacking deep in your rain forests.

To say nothing of career opportunities for those who need to work to make ends meet.

FYI, authentic extra virgin olive oil, even organic ones imported from Greece or Spain, can be purchased on TMall flagship stores run by said multinationals. Delivered to our "asia wife" faster than to your forest hermitage....

oh I forgot, Peter processes them fresh from his backyard olive tree garden.