The 10 Most Expensive Cities to Rent in China

The 10 Most Expensive Cities to Rent in China
Aug 27, 2013 By eChinacities.com

The National Bureau of Statistics recently published data that shows a consecutive increase in rental prices over 42 months. Increasing rental prices for housing in China has been a source of frustration for people across the country, but which cities are the most expensive of the lot? Read on and see if your city is one of the top 10 most expensive cities to rent in China.

1) Beijing
Wondering just how expensive rental prices are in China’s capital? In general, one bedroom flats in the CBD area cost over 10,000 RMB a month, while one bedroom flats in the Wangjing area now cost around 6000 RMB a month; another 1500 RMB or so can be added on if the flat is slightly larger. One housing agent claimed that a 60 square meter flat he rented out last June for 4500 RMB in the Zhongguancun area increased to 5400 RMB after the Chinese New Year. Then after buying new furniture for the flat and raising the price to 5800 RMB, he easily found new tenants to rent it out at the higher cost.

Data issued by National Bureau of Statistics show that housing prices in June are 3.1% higher across the country than the same period last year and that rental prices increased by 4.1% nationwide. Meanwhile, in Beijing alone rental prices rose by 6.2% which far exceeds the national standard. The number of people opting to co-rent with roommates has also seen a drastic increase, from 45% in 2011 to almost 60% in 2013. On the whole, Beijing’s rental prices have been continuously increasing for 52 months already so it’s no surprise that more and more people are opting to co-share.

2) Shanghai
“Two years ago, my two bedroom flat cost 3800 RMB. Now it’s already gone up to 4500 RMB,” says Mr. Zhang, a resident in a housing compound in Pudong New District. The rental prices in his compound have seen an annual increase of 10%.

Data highlights that up to July this year rental prices in Shanghai have been increasing for 37 months straight, with July recorded as the most expensive month so far in 2013. In July this year, 1427 places were known to charge higher rents, an increase of 15 residences since June.

The rental market for luxury housing also saw an increase in Shanghai in July, with one bedroom apartments rising by 2.05%, two bedroom flats rising by 1.13% and three bedroom homes rising by 1.08%. These figures indicate that luxury rentals are double the cost in Shanghai than the overall market average. Meanwhile, areas that have been particularly susceptible to rent increases include housing by Nanjing East Road, Laoximen and Jing’an Temple.

3) Guangzhou
By May this year, the average price of single room in Guangzhou rose to 3485 RMB. That’s a 53.5% increase since May, 2008. A real estate agent explained that around graduation time in July, the demand for low to medium cost housing increases exponentially. But since graduates are just entering the work world, they can only afford housing in the 600-1000 RMB price range. Because room sharing poses a safety risk, many people opt to rent a “room in a room”, in other words one room partitioned into various smaller living spaces. According to the published data, by June this year rental prices in Guangzhou have increased for 45 months straight.

4) Shenzhen
For Xiao Wu, Shenzhen is an unfamiliar city despite coming here on a holiday while she was a student. “For the sake of convenience and safety, I rented a 25 square meter flat near my work place for 2300 RMB,” Miss Wu, who lives in Futian District, tells a journalist. Meanwhile, Xiao Chen’s rent is also not cheap despite sharing with classmates: “Three of us rented a three bedroom flat with a living room for 4500 RMB near Xuefu Road,” says Xiao Chen. One landlord told the journalist that when she first rented out her 70 square meter, 2 bedroom flat in 2010 the rent was 2100 RMB; this year it’s increased to 3200 RMB.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics’ team in Shenzhen, rental prices this June in Shenzhen were 10.9 % higher than the same period last year and prices have been increasing continuously for 13 straight months.

5) Nanjing
Influenced by the graduation season, rental prices have seen major increases this summer in Nanjing, especially in housing close to subway stations. “A three bedroom flat with one living room near Hunan Road cost 5000 RMB in May. Now, at 6200 RMB a month, people are still competing to rent it,” says a worker in Nanjing. According to online statistics, in June this year, there were 44,780 individual rental units on the market in Nanjing and average rental prices in the city stood at 2387 RMB per month, a 4.36% increase since the preceding month. In the first half of the year, rental prices in Nanjing have seen an overall increase of 3.4%.

6) Tianjin
The buying and selling of houses in Tianjin may have cooled off recently, but that hasn’t stopped rental prices from going through the roof this summer. Statistics from several large real estate agents in Tianjin indicate that renting prices almost doubled in the course of one week in mid July. Xiao Yan, the manager of a Wo Ai Wo Jia branch in Zhaoxingdao, explained that July was a busy month for real estate agencies and that the number of people coming into his office almost doubled since June. He also said that rents increased by 10-15%.

7) Hangzhou
It wasn’t easy for Zhang Fan to find a 3000 RMB a month job in Hangzhou, given the fact that this year has been called “the most difficult year for graduates to find employment.” As his graduation approaches, housing has become another major source of concern. Because the company isn’t offering housing, Zhang Fan has no option but to rent. “I initially wanted to rent a room near the company, but the rental prices were frighteningly expensive: A 30 square meter flat with one bedroom and a living room costs over 2500 RMB.” Zhang Fan said that he knew rental prices were expensive from reading the news, but he never expected it to be that steep.

Zhang Fan had no option but to look further away. “Yesterday I found a 20 square meter room that’s an hour away from work and only has one bed, a drawer and an air conditioner. It costs 1300 RMB a month.” Zhang Fan will have to sacrifice almost half his salary and a live a very fugal lifestyle to make ends meet.

A real estate agent claimed that rental prices in Hangzhou have increased by around 10% per annum and that flats in central Hangzhou with basic furnishings cost at least 3500 RMB. For graduates, these prices are a huge burden.

8)  Chongqing
A journalist from the Chongqing Morning News recently learned that leasing prices of second hand homes have increased by around 20% at a number of prominent real estate agencies in Chongqing. Moreover, rental prices have increased by 5-10%. Like in Nanjing and other major cities, the sudden price increase is related to the fact that a new wave of graduates are looking for housing. While price increases have always been common around graduation time, Chongqing’s average annual rental prices have risen by 5-10%.

9) Qingdao
Ms. Huang, a landlord in Qingdao, is quite satisfied this year when it comes to rental prices. She’s the owner of 91 square meter apartment on Shouzhang Road in Shinan District and real estate agents have given her a quote of 2700 RMB a month. “Last year I got 2400 RMB a month so this year I get 200 RMB more a month. This is my third year leasing the apartment but the first two years were leased out on a two year contract. From the third year I decided to issue a new contract on an annual basis; that option is more flexible and it allows me to increase the rent.” Rental prices in Qingdao clearly increased in April, May and June this year, and in popular areas like Nanshan and Shibei District, rents went up by over 7%.

10) Chengdu
Zheng Yu, who graduated from university last year, rents at 40 square meter apartment near Sichuan University for 1500 RMB a month – a third of her monthly salary. She pays every three months so one entire month’s salary goes towards the rent. When she moved in last year, her parents helped her pay for the deposit and even now she struggles to meet the payment. “Last week I invited friends for dinner but had to cancel suddenly when I realized the rent was due the following week.” Like Zhang Yu, more and more people in Chongqing are struggling to cope with the comparatively sky-high rent prices. In a city where one flat is more expensive than the other, all people like Zhang Yu can do is hope for a more affordable future.

Source: sohu.com

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Keywords: rental prices in China most expensive cities to rent in China

5 Comments

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Corflamum

And yet the Chinese government claims from 2002 to 2012 rent prices have only increased 8.1%.

Aug 29, 2013 06:23 Report Abuse

Guest655508

articles of this nature, always: 1. center-focus ONE street/district/complex/building in order to create popular lists easily. hey - if one STREET in Beijing relates to 'China' housing prices, why not call Angola (based on one street) the most expensive place on earth? 2. disregard migrant workers, construction workers etc., you think blue collar and white collar are the only ones renting? PS: i spent a month in Shenzhen in a 400 yuan apartment w/ shared bathroom. I have stayed in Beijing in an apartment shared by Xinjiang muslims for 900. Close to Beijing West Railway Station. Never believe these things!! PPS: it helps to speak Chinese.

Aug 28, 2013 11:39 Report Abuse

JustinF

Did you mean Chengdu instead of Chongqing in the last paragraph?

Aug 27, 2013 22:28 Report Abuse

sharkies

Everywhere you look in China you can see more and more apartment complexes being built. Surely the supply of housing is much greater than the demand. How does China justify these ridiculous prices? The average Chinese salary is still very low in comparison to the cost of housing. I really don't know how long this can keep going on. Where I live in Guangzhou, the cost of an average villa is more than 12 million RMB - nearly 2 million Australian dollars. That is absurd!

Aug 27, 2013 11:25 Report Abuse

dom87

I have to pay like 4300 for a shit old shitty furnitured apartment in shanghai its just unbelievable how much you have to pay for rent. I wonder how most people in china can even live. The average salary is far lower than the average rent and yet the people manage to live in big houses, i wonder how...

Aug 27, 2013 11:07 Report Abuse