Glamor Economics

Chapter 6

Chapter 1 Section 5 Why Americans Love Renting Houses, while Chinese Love Buying Houses
Buying a house is now the most concerned thing for the Chinese people. Many people regard owning a decent house as their pursuit of happiness.Americans living on the other side of the ocean are more willing to rent a house.This reflects the differences in the way of thinking and choices of the people of the two countries.Of course, the reason for such differences is also closely related to the differences in the economic environment, real estate market, and economic policies of the two countries—these are all within the scope of economic research.

In fact, in the United States, many people do not buy a house but rent a house.Let's look at an example of American Bill.

Bill has moved six times in the 13 years of his marriage.Bill's wife took a job as a tour guide in Miami, so the family moved to Miami, their fifth move.Bill loves his family. Wherever people go, the family must be moved. The house can be changed, and the family can be moved, but the husband and wife cannot live apart.So the family moved to Miami from San Francisco on the west coast of the United States.

After a while, Bill's wife quit her job as a tour guide in Miami, while Bill found a good job in Los Angeles.They moved their family to Los Angeles on the west coast of the United States in less than two years. Jesse moved from the west coast of the United States to the east coast, and from the east coast to the west coast. In the eyes of many Chinese, this is incredible.

Many Americans have the experience of moving due to work like Bill. Many American companies such as Microsoft and Coca-Cola will pay moving expenses for employees who move from other places.The average American moves more than a dozen times in their lifetime.A beautiful environment, clean air, less local taxes, low cost of living, changing jobs, and even more delicious restaurants in a place will all be reasons for Americans to move.

Americans take no trouble in moving, and even enjoy it.There are no restrictions on moving in the United States, and there is no household registration system. Moving does not require anyone's approval, and you don't even need to go to the police station to report.Moving is also very convenient. There are specialized moving companies, some of which specialize in moving in this city, while others operate in moving to other places.When moving, people can use a special moving car.But the furniture is generally not moved, and most of them are sold on the spot.After moving, repurchase according to the size, tone and style of the room.

The reason why moving is convenient is mainly because the United States has ample housing for rent and a stable rental market.In this environment, the supply and demand of houses can be adjusted through the rise and fall of the rent level.In the United States, you may only feel that the rent is expensive, but you will not be unable to rent a house to live in.At the same time, the United States has clear laws and regulations to protect the interests of tenants and strictly prevent the lessor from raising prices indiscriminately. The rent of some houses in New York is even at the level of the 50s and [-]s.

In stark contrast to this is the Chinese concept of buying a house.Long Yongtu once attributed the main problem of China's real estate to the concept of housing: "The most important crux is that the common people have not changed their concept. Everyone wants to buy a house. In fact, this concept is very wrong."

When Long Yongtu compared the per capita housing in the United States, he said: "Thirty percent of the American population buys a house, and [-] percent rents a house. There are not many people who actually own a house." On the issue of renting houses, the goal of the common people is to 'have a house to live in', rather than always focus on 'high housing prices'."

The housing concepts of Chinese people are indeed very different from those of foreign countries, which can also be seen from the housing area.In some developed and moderately developed cities, ordinary people do not particularly pursue spaciousness. In Korean cities, 59% of small houses are less than 40 square meters in size. The housing area of ​​ordinary people in Japan is mostly 100 to [-] square meters; Prime Minister Schroeder, in order to save rent, rented a two-room apartment. When his daughter came, he would add an extra bed and sleep three people in one room.In China, however, the units of [-] to [-] square meters are considered small, often more than [-] square meters.

It can be seen from this that the reason why Americans love to rent houses and Chinese people love to buy houses is related to the differences in the concepts of the two peoples, but the most critical factors are the economic environment, real estate market, and economic conditions of the two countries. policy differences.After studying economics, we will see this point more clearly.

(End of this chapter)