介绍:
Hostess: Hey there! Welcome to GNO Girls night out views! This is your hostess Stephanie. With us today are Joyce, Aniea and Fab.
Recently a young couple in Shenzhen sold their apartment for 4m RMB and moved back to their hometown in Wuhan with their two children and purchased four apartments there. They claimed they were finally relieved from the financial stress they used to suffer from living in Shenzhen.
This news is a reflection on millions of other Shenzheners who are struggling and fighting for a better future nowadays in Shenzhen.
Shenzhen’s dynamic economy and job opportunities have definitely attracted a lot of talents flooding in, however, its insanely high housing price is also driving people out of the city.
So what do you guys think about the housing price in Shenzhen? In what way it’s affecting your lives?
Aniea: For me, I’m working in a foreign company now. Looking back five years ago after graduation, I was lucky to live in a two bedroom flat that costs 1800 RMB rent by company. Look at now, one bedroom of a four bedrooms flat cost more than 2000 RMB. Young working professional like me are so stressed on the fast growing housing price.
Hostess: Yeah that’s true. But for a cute girl like you, you can always hook up with a guy who has a flat or an apartment.
Aniea: oh…Some girls they do try to marry a rich man who already has a flat, but friends around me, they are the girls who wanna be financially independent. However, girls are girls. They tend to make themselves look beautiful. They pay a lot of money on clothes, makeups, entertainments, paying credit cards….let alone buying a house by themselves.
Hostess: Exactly! I mean, we are girls. For me, I basically spend every penny on my cosmetics and clothing. I mean I almost live from paycheck to paycheck every month, let alone buying a house. It’s impossible. Besides in China, in our culture, buying a house is mostly a man’s responsibility. Well Fab, isn’t that correct?
Fab: Yeah, that’s true. I am an IT engineer in a leading company in the area we are in now. It really bothers me a lot when thinking about housing in Shenzhen. From what I can see, salary increment didn’t catch up with the housing appreciation. The housing appreciation was 50% last year, while my salary only increased 10%. That means I have to work for another four to five years to raise my salary to this high.
Hostess: That’s crazy! so under this circumstance, do you think you will buy a house in the near future (in Shenzhen)?
Fab: I don’t think so in the next four to five years.
Hostess: umm…..What about in the further future? Will your parents financially support you?
Fab: Supports from my parents will be tiny. Or even none supports from my parents. And friends around me will also only get tiny supports from their parents.
Hostess: Yeah coz for a lot of friends, it was impossible for them to afford the down payment by themselves. So a lot of them just receive a lot of money from their parents on the down payment and then they would pay back the loans.
Joyce: Lucky them, right?
Hostess: yeah, very lucky..
Joyce: I didn’t receive any financial assistance from my parents when I bought my house. So am I the only person who has house buying experience here?
All: yes, you are…lucky you!
Joyce: okay well, I guess what I can share today is the same advice I took before I made a decision to buy. Affordability should be the number one thing we look at. Simply put, two questions ask yourself. The number one question is, Can I afford it? Number two, Am I stable enough to know I’m going to want to live in the home for at least ten years. If not, you could get stuck in a home you cannot afford in the city you are ready to leave. So steph, earlier you mentioned in the newspaper the couple moved back to Wuhan from Shenzhen, do you know how long they lived in their apartment?
Hostess: at least more than ten years because they stayed long enough to purchase an apartment here.
Joyce: oh..money well spent then.
Hostess: well, so What is this affordable payment you mentioned before?
Joyce: umm, not according to me though. According to a research published in the economist, Your affordable payment shall include two parts, debt payments, that’s your credit card payments, your car loans, and two is your new housing expenses. As we know, the mortgage will be the biggest expense. The financial expert suggest all of the above combined shouldn’t be more than 43% of your monthly gross income.
Hostess: That sounds complicated! So How do you calculate it?
Joyce: It’s not that complicated. I just listeners out there, if you do have a piece of paper and pen, write down these numbers. Okay, According to the same finance expert, for example, if your monthly gross income is 10,000 RMB, multiply this number by 0.43, so 4300RMB should be the money you should spend on debt payments, including your housing. Now let’s say you have monthly credit card payments of 500 RMB, by this 43% rule, You have 3800 RMB per month you can afford for housing. Guys, consider this, before making a decision to buy, do the above calculation.
Hostess: Wow, that’s a big decision. I mean it takes a lot of courage to do that. Um especially for the graduates nowadays, they don’t get much pay in the beginning, and the living expense is just through the roof. How can they afford the housing? So with all the increasing material prices and housing prices, will you guys stay in Shenzhen in the future or are you gonna leave this city?
Aniea: I think I will stay in Shenzhen. Because I made my decision to spend my whole life in Shenzhen 5 years ago. I’d like to stick to my dream. Maybe I can’t buy a house now, but I choose to rent a house living with my partner. We can buy one in the future, like my parents. They could afford buying a house after they got married years later.
Stephanie: yeah, that’s true. That’s one way to go. You don’t always have to get a guy who already has a property here. You can always work your way up later after you get married.
Fab: Yeah.. Being the only son of my parents, I have the pressure that I will have to take care of my aged parents in the coming years. Maybe I will have to rent two houses or own two houses to live a happy life in the future. If I am about to spend the rest of my life here in Shenzhen, this is another problem I’m facing right now.
Hostess: Yeah, especially I mean, when you can’t even afford your own housing, you still have to ….
Fab: yeah, two is a lot more (difficult).
Hostess: yeah, that burden is definitely heavy.
Fab: Too much pressure.
Hostess: Well you know there is this saying that goes, money can buy you medicine but cannot buy you a house. Money can buy you a house but cannot buy you home. Money can buy you books but cannot buy you knowledge.
For most Chinese, a house is more than just a shelter. However, When you cannot afford a house in Shenzhen, What will you do?
Alright guys, Thanks for listening to GNO Views! Stay tuned for more upcoming talk shows! Got some good ideas or suggestions? Leave your comments! 这里是Girls Night out 英语脱口秀GNO Views, 感谢你的收听！ Bye!
