As China's economy slows, some young people are snapping up cheap apartments to 'retire' early

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨schizoidman@lemmy.zip⁩ to ⁨globalnews@lemmy.zip⁩

https://apnews.com/article/china-cheap-housing-prices-4a2825765c974497ce5a8748302de285

Chen pays just 1200 RMB, or $168, a month for her apartment in faux Venice in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu. It’s so cheap that it’s allowed Chen to retire at the tender age of 28.

With such low rent, she calculates she can live there for the rest of her life without ever having to work again.

Ban moved from a bustling commercial city on China’s east coast to a small town in China’s southwestern Yunnan province. Tucked away in a lush valley, the town is famed for fresh, clean air and healing hot springs. There, for just 800 yuan a month ($110) Ban rents an apartment with three bedrooms, one of which she converted to a yoga studio.

A one-bedroom apartment can be bought for $3,000, and $13,000 can buy a roomy four-bedroom place.

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MNByChoice@midwest.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Good for Chen! She deserves better than 996.

This will be interesting impacts on China if it becomes a larger trend, though no reason to think it will become a larger trend.

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Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Kind of a shit article. How sustainable are these? Who pays the maintenance on these buildings? Who covers sewage and hydro? Is there a tax base to worry about or does China’s command economy just cover everything automagically?

A few people paying a relative pittance in an otherwise vacant community is going to crumble in the absence of maintenance.

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- schizoidman@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I suppose there will be some kind of conservancy charges. Like there are in Singapore
  
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  - Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    But how would that cover a crumbling building when only a few residents pay it?
    
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starik@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Those are some cheap condos. Seems like the cost of living gap between urban and rural is especially wide in China.

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outofthisworld@lemmy.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Wow $13,000 for a four bedroom? It’s almost like propaganda 🤣

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- starik@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  It would be nice if we could build affordable housing here in the US.
  
  The high rises in the thumbnail (where Chen lives) are described as semi-abandoned. China tried building these new cities out in the middle of nowhere, assuming people would fill them, but not enough people moved in. Seems like it would be smarter to just build higher where there is already organic demand.
  
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  - outofthisworld@lemmy.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    Well, it’s important to make the satellite photos look like a booming economy while funneling the money to capitalist billionaires wearing communist hats.
    
    But I agree… with cheaper housing. One large problem about western capitalism is supply and demand. Housing should not be a commodity that gets choked to increase profit. Efficient building, even with single family homes, can make houses cost next to nothing. Frankly, I would like to see non-profit builders or even state sponsored builders that sell “at cost” with publicly available paper trails. Of course…… resell for profit needs to also be prohibited.
    
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swelter_spark@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Great price! I think I’d be kind of scared to live in a building so tall, though.

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