The houses/apt./condos ARE higher in China than in the USA.

Simple math:

1 sq m = 10.76 sq ft
6.10RMB = 1USD

Prices in KM averages 10K/sq m;
This equates to: $152.36/sq ft.

A typical 1800 sq. ft. house in So. Cal. would cost about $274,248 in KM. Slightly cheaper than what it would cost in So. Cal.

But then due to many variables involved, for example: the construction materials are different, land ownership, taxes, maintenance, etc., this is really comparing apples to oranges.

Perhaps a better comparison would be to compare the cost of an apartment in SH to NY.

A quick search shows an average price of $1000/sq ft in the downtown Manhattan area. Using this (unverified) figure in our calculations, we get a cost of:
65,636 RMB / sq m as compared to 100,000 RMB / sq m in downtown SH.

Its hard to prove since china omits housing from CPI. But if a good apartmemt costs 1 million and an average salary is 3000 (maybe im on the low side there?) and interest rates are 2-3 times higher than US or Europe, how does that work out over a 30 year mortgage?
Now, of course some people pay cash.

By the way id prefer to measure in spending power, instead of money

@faraday brings up an interesting point.

Again, unverified data from the internet shows average income in the city of NY is $80K/year while it is about ￥7500/month for WHITE-COLLAR workers in SH.

This means a typical person working in NY would have to work 0.1345 years to purchase 1 sq m in NY compared to a typical worker in SH working 1.11 years to purchase 1 sq m.

Meaning, a SH worker would have to work 8.25 times longer than a NY worker to buy a 1 sq m housing in their respective cities. (This disparity becomes even greater if you use the average salary of ALL workers in SH, which is about ￥4000/month)

Here's the math:
$1000/sq ft = $10760/sq m
$10760/$80000 = .1345 years

￥7500 x 12 = ￥90K/year
￥100000/￥90000 = 1.11 years

1.11/0.1345 = 8.25x

Tony calculated exactly what I tried to illustrate. And remember, his rough estimation was for a cash buyer and didnt take into account the higher interest rates for borrowers.

I would love if someone could find a flaw in these estimations, coz a very scary situation.
But hey, a lifetime of slavery is bound to be very stable, for the baby.

Your post appears to say 100,000 rmb/sqm.
That is at the upper end of costs for Shanghai.

Yeah I think 85,000 per sqm is perhaps more realistic for the not fancy, not central SH apartments.

Don't forget that a lot of condos/houses/apt. that you buy, you have to invest more money on renovations. This can be very costly depending on the square footage.

@tigertiger, it explicitly states 100K/sq m. And yes, it is at the high end as I am comparing downtown to downtown. 1000USD/sq ft is also at the high end for NY and so it would be an comparable comparison.

@Haali, Again, 100k is for downtown SH, not a non-central SH location. Even with your figure though, it would make much difference in illustrating the point as the multiple would be around 6x, still quite a disparity.