Graffiti scrawled on Nanjing’s City Wall on 9th October, 2013 speaks of the pressure on young Chinese to become property owners. The writing by an unidentified person read, “By the time I am 24 for I must own a house in Nanjing”, shining a light on the dire situation people in their twenties in China face today.
But where does this pressure to own a property come from? The gender inequality caused by China’s one-child policy is making the marriage market in China a highly competitive affair. Predictions estimate that by 2020 China will have numbers of male bachelors equal to the entire population of Canada.
Consequentially, Chinese future brides and their mothers can take their pick and have high expectations of their potential husbands. First and foremost, this means providing a home for the couple to live in, tied to the Chinese tradition of owning a house as a means of financial security in old age.
In a tragic chain of events, the intense marriage competition is fuelling an even more intense property competition, driving between 30 percent to 48 percent of the increase of home prices in China from 2003 to 2009.
As one of the Top Ten cities in China in terms of housing prices, Nanjing is not an easy place for people to get their foot on the property ladder. At an average price of ¥15,800 per square meter compared to an average salary 0f approximately ¥5,000 a month it would take one person over 36 years to be able to afford an 80 square metre property, if they were able to save half of their salary.
Considering that social norm dictates Chinese to ideally get married in their 20’s it is virtually impossible for anyone to achieve property owner status without considerable help from their parents.
As if Generation “Little Emperor” did not face enough hardship already, the very same one-child policy that is driving the real estate market might ultimately lead to its downfall.
Most Chinese couples are looking at inheriting four parents’ wealth after their passing, i.e. at least two additional properties to the one acquired in order to be eligible on the marriage market. The ramifications are a vast overabundance of properties and following this, a sharp decrease in property value as China is hit by the consequences of an aging population and lack of young workers beginning as early as 2020.
While the immediate future for Nanjing’s graffiti artist and his fellow countrymen will be more than a little financially challenging, the flickering flame representing a glimmer of light on the horizon is an inheritance that will snuff out bachelor competition, provided properties hang on to their value and are not repossessed by the government at the end of their lease.
