More than ten percent of the college students living in the
university district of northern Beijing are now homeowners.
The Legal Mirror reported Tuesday that students
comprise 10 to 15 percent of home buyers in the area since October,
compared with no more than five percent in any area of the city
during the same period last year.
Fu Yan, an assistant manager with the Golden Keys real estate
agency, said college students' decision to join in the wave of home
buying is a result of rapidly increasing housing prices. They
choose to rely on their parents, rather than save up on their own,
only to discover that housing prices have again soared out of their
reach.
Seventy percent of students pay the purchase price in full,
largely thanks to financial backing from their parents.
Most student homes are small-sized apartments, ranging from 50
to 70 square meters, purchased for 400,000 to 600,000 yuan (54,000
to 81,000 US dollars), according to the Golden Keys agency.
In the rush to purchase homes, many college students and their
parents told reporters that the sooner they buy, the better,
because they believe housing prices will continue to increase.
One postgraduate said that he didn't buy a home after finishing
his bachelor's degree because his income was unable to support it,
but now the prices have become even more unaffordable.
?(CRI December 19, 2007)