dv said:

party_pants said:

dv said:

BAWC

Re-writing history.

Most of these houses were built as speculative assets, not as places to live. People bought them to hold onto them for a while and resell later, not to rent. Renting them out was seen as a loss because of wear and tear and renovation costs. A classic bubble market. it was inly when the housing bubble started to collapse and developers went broke they decided to convert these speculative assets into living housing stock. This was an afterthought, many people lost their life savings in the turmoil.

What is the purpose of houses?

In China. from the early 2000s up to about 2023-ish, the main purpose was asset speculation. Given that the Chinese stock market and bond market and so on are overregulated (rigged) by the government, and they are for the most part forbidden from sending money abroad to invest in international markets, the property market became the main vehicle for making money through speculation. Many Chinese bought property in far away towns sight unseen, and usually off the plan before a single sod was turned. They were not rented out. They were kept empty because a house still in brand new pristine condition had a better resale vale.

it is only in the last 3 or 4 years since the property market collapse that Chinese people have decided to live in them and a last resort.

I though this was well known and undisputed.