Demand pushes up rents in Beijing   

畢業季租賃市場需求加大 北京房租再迎上漲壓力

北京統計局最新數據顯示，繼四月份住房租金上漲7.6%以后，5月份北京住房租金同比上漲7.4%，房租呈現持續上漲趨勢。當前，高校畢業季即將到來，業內預計，大量租房需求的出現或導致房屋租金加速上漲。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- Intensive demand has helped push up housing rents in big Chinese cities, especially Beijing, where rents continued to rise in May.

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics said Thursday that the average rent for a small house in the city jumped 7.4 percent year-on-year in May, following a year-on-year increase of 7.6 percent in April.

Xie, a job-seeker in Beijing, told reporters that he had failed to find a suitable house because of high rents or poor living conditions, such as housing being divided into several parts for group-renting.

"It is difficult to find a place to live in Beijing," he said.

Niu Fengrui, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the hike depends on the ratio of supply and demand in the rental market.

Guo Yi, marketing director of Yahao Real Estate Selling and the Consulting Solution Agency, said demand has surged, especially as a large number of students are seeking jobs in Beijing. Moreover, some buyers have turned to renting houses because of rocketing property prices, he added.

Zhang Dawei, an analyst with Centraline Property, a Beijing-based real estate agency, said the property tax may bring rents down in the future.

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