Young Chinese prefer quality life over new homes

Speakers: Li Ningjing and Sam Duckett

Chinese younger generations are reluctant to buy their own property. [Photo: Baidu.com]

A blue paper by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences says more than 55% of college graduates born in the 1990s would rather not buy homes if that means having to "bear the heavy burden of housing loans".

Only one-third of graduates of the post-1990s generation are willing to compromise on quality of life for the sake of buying a home.

About 30% of them lived in a space of less than 20 square meters a year after graduation, but they are more willing to improve their life quality rather than having a larger living space.

The report said, housing prices in China's first-tier cities are more than 40 times of the average income of residents, challenging young people's capability and willingness to buy homes. Young people in Beijing and Shanghai have already postponed buying their first homes, with the average age of 30 for first buyers in 2013 rising to 34 in 2016.

The audio clip is from Studio+, produced by CRI.