Institutional and demographic influences on the presence, scale and geographic scope of individual Chinese real estate investment

We use the results of a survey taken in ten large Chinese cities to investigate several aspects of Chinese real estate investment. The survey provides significant (though not comprehensive) information on the personal and family characteristics and real estate holdings of the survey respondents. In this paper we ask three inter-related questions: 1. What factors are associated with individuals who own property in China? 2. What factors are associated with the extent of such ownership—i.e. what determines the number of properties owned? 3. What factors determine the geographical extent of this ownership; in particular, who owns local property and who owns geographically dispersed?

► A new survey in ten large Chinese cities is used to model property ownership. ► Workers in state-related industries are more likely to own property. ► Households invest in nonlocal property if they live in high-priced areas. ► Hukou does not affect property investment, only its location.