Can China guarantee housing to all of its citizens? In attempting to do so, cities are tinkering with a multitude of government-subsidized housing options and pilot programs. For background on this series and the "five haves", see below. Case Study: Xiamen Tests the Water Picutred: One of Xiamen's government-backed guaranteed housing projects Since the national housing reform began in , Xiamen was the first city to invest huge sums of money into building market-priced housing which would be integrated into a housing guarantee system.
Xiamen's 20 "guaranteed housing" projects โ involving 45, housing units - will take until to be built. Despite enthusiasm by Xiamen residents and guarantees by officials it can foot the bill, questions remained: How would expenditures for such housing projects be balanced against the financial needs of Xiamen's other public policy endeavors - in education, health care, etc?
And in , with the central government expected to tighten the money markets, wouldn't it be more difficult for the Xiamen government to find loans? Furthermore, beyond the costs of building the units, the government would suffer an opportunity cost of allocating the land underneath those new residential units for free. If Xiamen government instead sold the land, it would make between seven and eight billion yuan.
The Birth Of Xiamen's Guaranteed Housing Pictured: Xiamen residents wait for their housing lottery assignments In , a survey revealed that skyrocketing real estate prices were making life extremely difficult for low-income Xiamen residents.
In , the real estate market was unusually hot, with units selling the moment they were put out. Officials conducted one survey that found 9 out of 10 buyers were making investments. In March of , a document aiming to carry out national real estate market controls at the local level made it to the Xiamen municipal Party committee.
