Price/Rent Ratio in China compared to Asia
This price-to-rent ratio helps assess whether it is more cost-effective to buy or rent a home in a given market. A high price-to-rent ratio suggests that buying a property is more expensive relative to renting, whereas a low ratio indicates that buying may be more favorable than renting.
- Price-to-Rent Ratio below 16: It's generally cheaper to buy a home than to rent.
- Price-to-Rent Ratio between 17 and 20: The cost of buying and renting is roughly comparable.
- Price-to-Rent Ratio above 21: It's generally cheaper to rent than to buy.
Change Continent
China has poor house price statistics. The National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBSC) has monthly house price time-series starting January 2011 but only until August of 2013. Another source of house price indices is eHomeday, Shanghai's largest property market web site, which has time-series for Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Beijing, Yangzhou and Suzhou (but the site is only in Chinese, and no time-series are available). Colliers International publishes useful housing data in their quarterly property market reviews. General economics statistics are available from the NBSC and the People's Bank of China.