(ECNS) -- Nearly 84 percent of young Chinese are facing housing problems, according to a recent survey, with 58 percent saying that prices in first-tier cities far exceed their capacity to pay.
The survey by the China Youth Daily and Wenjuan.com questioned 2,001 respondents in the 18-35 age group, with 71.8 percent saying they know many young people who have given up on careers in big cities due to surging house prices. Only 16.4 percent of respondents do not regard housing as a problem.
Some 71.4 percent of those surveyed said housing prices will influence their choice of a city for permanent residence, with only 15.6 percent saying it is not a factor, while 83.5 percent are willing to live in cities where housing prices are friendly to them.
Liao Ran (a pseudonym) from southern China plans to buy a home in Beijing. Her parents will provide financial support, but "perhaps when we sell our house (in our hometown), the earnings can't make up for the increase in the housing price here".
Liao said she once considered a career in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. But the idea "was soon defeated by reality" because "Shenzhen's housing prices rose too fast."
Though Zhang Mu (also a pseudonym) is a professional in Beijing's financial sector earning a lucrative salary admired by others. He too has a housing problem.
"It is necessary to buy a home if I want to take root here," Zhang said. But "with the down payment and monthly mortgage that could make me a house slave for the next score of years, I eventually gave up the idea".
He plans to stay despite skyrocketing housing prices. "There are cutting-edge technologies and broader development platforms and horizons, which will bring young people more growth opportunities," Zhang said. "A majority of people can't afford a home, so it is commonplace nowadays, and a solution will surely be worked out."
Zhang Yi, a research fellow at the National Institute of Social Development at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said it is "not very possible" that young people will withdraw from big cities and return to their hometowns.
As resources and funds continue to flow into big cities, "the larger the city is, the more job opportunities it brings, promising relatively high incomes attractive to many young people," Zhang said.
