Housing Pressures in Megacities: Can China's Youth Ever Afford a Home?

In the glittering skylines of Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, a silent crisis is brewing—not in the boardrooms or policy chambers, but in the dreams of young Chinese millennials and Gen Zers asking one simple question: Will I ever afford a home? With skyrocketing property prices and stagnant wage growth, housing in China’s megacities has become less of a milestone and more of a mirage.

Let’s talk numbers. In Shanghai, the average price per square meter hit ¥68,000 ($9,400) in 2023, according to data from Fang.com. For a modest 70㎡ apartment, that’s over ¥4.7 million—nearly 50 times the average annual income for urban youth. Ouch.

The Reality Check: Price-to-Income Ratios Across Major Cities

As you can see, Chengdu stands out as relatively affordable—but even there, it takes nearly 19 years of full salary (before taxes!) to buy a home. In Shenzhen? You’d need to work half a century without spending a dime. Yeah, not happening.

So how are young people coping? Many are turning to "nest-sharing"—living with roommates well into their 30s—or relying on the "6-6-6 family model", where both sets of parents plus the couple chip in six figures each. It’s not homeownership; it’s financial triage.

Government efforts like subsidized rental housing and purchase restrictions have helped somewhat, but they’re band-aids on a systemic issue. Urban land scarcity, speculative investment, and cultural pressure to own property keep pushing prices up.

The truth is, for many young Chinese, owning a home in a tier-1 city is no longer a goal—it’s a fantasy. But here’s the twist: some are starting to walk away. More graduates are eyeing smaller cities, remote work, or even entrepreneurship outside the megacity grind. Maybe happiness isn’t behind a gated community in Pudong.

Can China’s youth ever afford a home? The answer might not be in policy alone—but in redefining what "home" really means.