The Great Housing Scam: Why China’s Towers Will Become Future Ghost Towns

I live on the 35th floor of a high-rise building. It's only been two months, and I already regret it so much it feels like my insides are rotting. Even if I sell at a loss of 5 million now, no one would buy it. Can you believe that? Honestly, living in a high-rise comes with too many problems. 10, 20 or 30 years from now, it's entirely possible that these areas will turn into slums, or even become completely uninhabited. 30 years from now, everyone who bought into high-rise apartments will realize that they were the biggest leaks waiting to be cut. Not only will they have nothing left, but the home they spent 30 years of their youth, and the efforts of three generations to buy, will turn out to be nothing more than a pile of crumbling bricks and tiles. As China's real estate market gradually collapses, the high-rise developments once praised by the Chinese Communist Party as glorious achievements are now falling off their pedestal. More and more residents are moving out of high-rise buildings, and more Chinese people are coming to realize that these towers, once symbols of China's economic boom, will one day become waste, relegated to slums. It's almost unbelievable that in the border area between Shenzhen and Dongguan, there exists a real-life high-rise slum. It's a residential complex with a garden in Guangjingtou, Dongguan City, built in 1993, barely over 30 years ago. Yet the exterior walls are already crumbling beyond repair. Many residents couldn't bear the poor living conditions and have long since moved out. Walking into this area, a sense of decay and dilapidation hangs in the air. It feels like stepping into a slum. It's frightening to imagine what these high-rise buildings, now dozens of stories tall, will look like 30 years from now. High-rise buildings have a fatal flaw that guarantees they won't end well, something landsellers will never tell you, and definitely not the developers. What is this fatal flaw? It's that in the future, no one will want to buy high-rise apartments. This is the inevitable result of economic, historical, and external factors combined. I used to think high-rise living was great, so I rushed into buying one. But the reality is, the higher the floor, the bigger the problems. First, maintenance is extremely difficult, and the repair costs are sky high. Right now, we may not fully grasp how serious the issue is, because most high-rises in big cities are still under 20 years old and haven't started showing major problems yet. Although many buildings in China are technically designed to last 50 years, in reality, signs of deterioration start appearing after just 25 to 30 years, peeling walls, low water pressure, cracked pipes, aging electrical systems, and elevators. And because these are high-rises, repair costs are even more outrageous. It's a bottomless pit. Imagine how expensive it is to repair a five- or six-story building, let alone one that's 30 or 40 stories high. The residential maintenance fund is nowhere near enough to cover these costs. These kinds of safety risks are completely unsuitable for working-class people like us. Living high up feels like stepping on clouds. I'm constantly in a fog, especially those open-air corridor walkways. Just looking at them gives me the chills. Let me show you the railing along those corridors. It's ridiculously low. Just standing there and looking down makes my legs go weak. Can you imagine how dangerous it is if a child plays up there? It's terrifying. I have several young children, and they run out there to play every day. The moment they even try to climb that pathetically low railing, I get a shiver down my spine. The safety risk is enormous. And on days with strong winds or gloomy rainstorms, rainwater lashes in violently, and the floor becomes as slippery as ice. In the winter, when it snows, every step you take could be a slip. My spouse and I, both full-grown adults, have slipped and fallen over 10 times during winter. Can you imagine that? It scares me to death. Living on the 34th floor? My God. It feels like the whole building shakes. It's like living in hell. Look at these kinds of high-rise buildings. They're suffocatingly dense, truly oppressive to live in. Let me tell you a story. In Shijiazhuang, there's a 16-story building built in 1986. It originally had two elevators, but now only one still works because they're so old. If both break down, there's nothing left to use. And right now, out of the 16 floors, only the buttons for floors 1, 6, 9, and 15 still function. And even those often malfunction, trapping people inside the elevator. Beyond elevator issues, there are serious fire hazards and water leaks due to aging electrical wiring and plumbing systems, not to mention failing water pumps and sanitation systems. That's why nowadays, most of the residents in that building are elderly. The younger people who could afford it have long since moved out. So why don't they just replace the elevators? Well, for a property with a 70-year ownership term, you'd need to replace the elevators at least three times. And each elevator can cost several hundred thousand yuan. Because the infrastructure of these high-rises has deteriorated so badly, the people who had money have already moved away. Those who are left can barely get by. And raising funds for repairs is nearly impossible. What about the maintenance fund? With today's inflation, the maintenance fees you paid years ago won't even cover the labor costs in the future. Then can I just wait for the building to be demolished and get compensated? You have to understand, developers are businessmen. Demolishing a six-story building and replacing it with a 30-story one makes a profit. But tearing down a 30-story building? They'd have to build 60 or even 70 stories just to break even. An elderly resident shared in an interview, I live on a high floor, and the thing I fear most is fire. I feel that if a fire breaks out, I'll have no way to escape. I can only wait to die. One time I heard there was a fire in the neighboring unit. I broke out in a cold sweat, hurriedly gathered a few important things, and got ready to flee. But then I realized the elevator had stopped working, and the staircase was filled with smoke. There was no way down. All I could do was stay inside and wait for rescue. I think that was the most terrifying moment of my life. This blogger also experienced a similar situation. He was taking the elevator to the fourth floor when it suddenly stopped. It was terrifying. Just as I was reaching the fourth floor, the elevator jerked, and the lights went out. Oh God, I couldn't contact the building management. The same thing happened before. The elevator shook while running. Now I'm too scared to take the elevator. What if one day I die in there? I used to be able to reach building management, but now I can't anymore. Hello? The elevator jolted when it got to the fourth floor. Now it only shows two bars. Yes, yes. No one really knows why, but it's extremely frightening. This isn't the first time this elevator has malfunctioned. Another blogger shared, I live on the 21st floor, with the top floor being the 27th. I've been here for over two years. I used to sell homes for over a decade but had never lived in a high-rise before, so I didn't understand its downsides. When I bought this place, I just thought as long as it didn't block sunlight, it was fine. So I chose the 21st floor. But after just two months of living here, I discovered eight major problems. Noise. I thought living high up would reduce noise from traffic and public square dancing, but it's actually worse. Dust. It sounds unbelievable, but even at this height, there's a lot of dust. Weak signal. During emergency calls, the signal is unstable. The person on the other end can't hear clearly, and messages can take over half an hour to send. High building density. Overcrowded population. Cramped living environment. And a serious lack of public green space. Rapid water system degradation. From the seventh floor upward, a pressure booster pump is needed, and water tanks must be cleaned regularly. If you live high up, you have to buy a water filter. Elevators. With more than 100 households and only two elevators serving four units per floor, it gets packed during rush hours. Sometimes you wait up to 30 minutes to get in. Once inside, it stops at every floor. So annoying. Significant loss in usable space. Only about 70% of the purchased area is actually usable due to shared areas. For example, if you buy a 100-meter apartment at 7,000 yuan, nearly 200,000 yuan is wasted on unusable space. Firefighting and rescue challenges. The current systems can't handle rescue operations above the 27th, 28th floors. Fire trucks can only reach up to around the 17th floor, and water hoses can't spray that high. Elevators and general maintenance are extremely difficult issues to resolve. In addition, water supply is also a major headache. In some places, to save costs, the water tanks are cleaned only once every three years, even though it should be done annually. To be blunt, what will happen when the elevators degrade in the future? Electrical systems will inevitably fail sooner or later, and the repair or replacement costs are enormous. Yet residents are not united. The management companies withdraw, and as a result, the building becomes unmanaged and filthy. No different from a slum. Analyzes suggest that in the coming decades, high-rise buildings in third- and fourth-tier cities will turn into ghost cities, while in first-tier cities, they'll become villages within cities, with extremely low rental value. In China, the property usage rights last for 70 years, but the design lifespan of these buildings is only about 50 years, meaning residents will never actually live long enough to use up their ownership rights. In a sense, high-rise housing is a massive scam. Wow, the situation in Wuhan is even more shocking. It's not just one building, it's an entire massive area. Look ahead, more towers, do you see them? It's truly frightening. The entire urban zone in Wuhan is now filled with towering high-rises, most around 50 to 60 stories high, beyond imagination. And many people still live here. These buildings seem to have been constructed just within the past few years. They look very new. I'm flying at an altitude of about 200 meters, nearly level with the rooftops of these buildings. If there's a power outage or strong wind here, who knows what could happen. It feels extremely dangerous. It's like being in Hong Kong, where land is scarce, but Wuhan doesn't have that kind of land shortage, does it? So why build so high? Natural lighting is terrible. One building blocks the sunlight from the next, and there's absolutely no direct sunlight. Do you really think sunlight can reach through buildings that tall? Such high-rise developments have a functional lifespan of only about 15 years. After that, they'll either be demolished or turn into slums. These apartments will lose all their value and become illiquid assets. Once the elevators break and the maintenance fund runs dry, water leakage begins, elevators break down with no one to fix them, and other public facilities fall into disrepair due to lack of funds. By that time, the management company will have withdrawn, and the property becomes a complete burden, potentially a slum or subject to demolition. When the wind blows, the howling is intense. If your window glass has poor sound insulation, it's a nightmare. It feels like being on a mountaintop. Especially during heavy rain and thunderstorms, the sound of the wind is like a hurricane in a disaster movie. The entire building shakes. It feels like it's about to collapse. When lightning strikes, it feels like it's about to hit your head. People with heart conditions or high blood pressure would find it unbearable. Economist Ying Rui believes that the massive profits behind high-rise buildings are the real reason why governments and real estate developers are racing to build upward. He said that, in reality, there's no need to build so many high-rises. Why build so many? Simply to extract a lifetime's worth of money from the public in just a few years. This behavior is essentially spending 20 years of future development in advance. From now on, cities will only be able to focus on urban renewal. If they keep building, there won't be anyone left to live in them. Just empty shells. In fact, there are already a ton of abandoned buildings. Yet people keep saying, new homes are selling out fast. The truth is, these new homes have become inventory. And the volume of unsold inventory is only increasing. I advise those thinking of selling their homes to cash out quickly, travel abroad, broaden their horizons, and focus on building their careers. Don't assume that high-rise buildings in today's cities are normal. Let me tell you, they're anything but normal. Don't think that an ordinary apartment in Beijing or Shanghai is really worth 10 million yuan. Once you go abroad, you'll realize it's not worth that at all. Real estate near collapse in Shanghai and Beijing. Tens of millions lose creditworthiness in China. Recently, a rights protection incident that attracted widespread attention occurred in Shanghai, China. Many owners of Shanghai Suhei No. 1 organized rights protection actions today due to dissatisfaction with the unfinished property project. Despite most of these owners being billionaires, they failed to change the outcome. Their rights protection activities were strongly suppressed by the police, with many owners arrested. Videos circulating online show severe law enforcement at the scene. During the protest, some owners were carried away by several policemen. Despite struggling and waving their hands and feet, they were unable to resist the police's coercive actions. Regarding the incident, some comments noted that in China, if a family lacks high-ranking official connections, no amount of wealth can shield them from government exploitation. A widely shared comment said, Rich people are still lambs to be slaughtered without power. Many netizens expressed their opinions, stating that the incident highlights the current reality of power being greater than money under the system. One user commented, Under a system where power is supreme, even the rich cannot escape being harvested. Another added, In the past, these wealthy individuals may have looked down on ordinary rights defenders, but now, retribution has come to them. The Shanghai homeowners' rights protection incident also reflects deep-seated problems in China's real estate market. Unfinished buildings have become a significant concern for many homebuyers, while the continued sharp decline in housing prices has plunged many homeowners into new predicaments. The price of this house in Tongzhou, Beijing, has also been cut in half, and I feel like jumping off the building. When it was first launched, you couldn't buy a house for 30,000 yuan per square meter. You needed both money and connections to secure one, and all the properties were pre-sale houses with large vacant land. Now, the price of houses has been completely halved, and all the properties have been completed, including villas, high-rise buildings, and other houses, with residents already moved in. The community gardens, the 120-meter spacing between buildings, and the beautiful flowers and plants are all impressive. What's the price now? It's just over 10,000 yuan. What's more, you can buy a house here with a down payment of 80,000 yuan. Additionally, the developer is offering 60,000 yuan worth of Jingdong home appliances. The developer has even stated that they have bowed to market pressures and will agree to any terms as long as someone is willing to buy. The change has been too rapid. Nanjing's housing prices can't fall any further. If they do, the situation will completely spiral out of control. Do you know how drastically housing prices in Nanjing have dropped? Take Hexi, for example. The celebrity real estate Hexia City had a 93-square-meter apartment sold for 5 million yuan in 2021. Earlier this year, a unit was sold for 2.82 million yuan, a 56% drop. Look at Agile's Binjiang International in the core area of Jiangbei. In May 2021, a 139-square-meter unit was sold for 6.18 million yuan. Now, in October and November this year, a large number of houses are listed at just 26,000 yuan per square meter, yet there is little interest, with prices down by over 50%. Regarding deed tax, the rate for a family's only house under 140 square meters has been reduced to 1%. For houses over 140 square meters, it is now 1.5%. For a second house, the preferential rates are 1% and 2%, respectively. Notably, Shanghai's relevant departments announced a similar policy, officially implemented on December 1. This adjustment is believed to aim at stimulating real estate transactions and attracting more buyers to the market. Some comments, however, suggest that buyers of houses over 140 square meters may not be swayed by this tax concession. A financial blogger explained that the policy's main purpose is to reduce home-buying costs by lowering taxes and fees to boost market demand. Yet some netizens admitted, small favors like this are hard to motivate people to buy houses, especially when fewer people are willing to buy homes now. Another netizen remarked, people who can't afford houses still can't afford them. The root cause of the housing price problem lies in the wealth gap. In reality, many ordinary people are already living on the edge, making home ownership an unattainable dream. One netizen shared their experience, reflecting their tough living conditions over the past year. Is anyone as poor as me this year? How poor? I didn't buy any clothes for my son, so he wore last year's clothes. I didn't buy pajamas or anything else except for a pair of shoes because his feet had grown too big. I made do with whatever clothes we had, including school uniforms. I haven't bought any clothes for myself either and have been wearing last year's clothes. And my hair? I haven't cut it for half a year, as you can see. What about skincare? I use Dabow. Honestly, it's quite moisturizing. Not bad. I don't know why life has become like this. What about you? How tough has it been for you? The debt problem has become a significant issue in Chinese society. The rising number of people who have lost their credibility is having a profound impact on the social credit system and the economy. Today, I came across data showing that the number of discredited individuals in China has surpassed 8.4 million. Upon seeing this, I couldn't help but think that credit investigations have lost their meaning. These 8.4 million are people subject to enforcement actions, not just those who have lost credibility. A few years ago, during business dealings, discovering the other party was a discredited individual would raise red flags. But now, such individuals are so common that it has become normalized. Today's business environment has forced too many people into survival mode, rendering credit investigations irrelevant. Many people earn monthly salaries of a few thousand or ten thousand yuan, but carry debts of tens or even hundreds of thousands. As soon as their salary arrives, they pay off Huabei or credit card installments, leaving them with nothing. They continue the cycle of credit card use month after month without considering future risks or consequences. When the majority starts thinking this way, the world may indeed have changed. If 800 people lose credibility, they face humiliation. If 8 million people lose credibility, the credit system itself becomes questionable. If 80 million people lose credibility, society as a whole will be in jeopardy. Some netizens also pointed out that even people working within the system aren't having an easy time. One user remarked, There are over 8 million civil servants and more than 40 million people working in public institutions, plus retirees. Altogether, over 90 million people depend on government support. If the economy declines and government finances tighten, can everyone still maintain stability? Financial real estate triggers unemployment wave. Experts, China's economy enters a vicious circle. Recent official data from the Chinese Communist Party reveals that employment in the financial and real estate industries, known as the golden industries, has dropped sharply. The number of employees in the financial industry has decreased by 5.8 million over five years, while employment in the residential construction industry has fallen by 10 million in the same period. Experts are pessimistic about China's economic prospects in 2025, believing that the faltering golden industries and a stagnating economy are dragging each other down, pushing China into a vicious economic cycle. According to economic census data released by the Mainland Statistics Bureau on December 26, employment in the financial sector has declined by 32 percent since 2018, a sharp drop of 5.8 million people. However, it is widely acknowledged that CCP economic data is often concealed or falsified. Massive unemployment, economic downturn, China's economy enters a vicious circle. A female white-collar worker in mainland China, with 10 years in banking and three in investment banking, shared on social media that many of her friends in the financial sector have faced salary cuts or resigned. She also noted the disappearance of wealth. In a normal society, real estate and financial services are the main channels for wealth accumulation. The contraction of these markets has erased wealth for ordinary people, making it increasingly difficult for them to improve their lives. Additionally, financial risks have surged. The sharp decline in employment within the financial and real estate sectors may degrade the overall expertise in these industries, increasing systemic risks.