The latest data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics points to an ongoing rise in the country’s per capita residential building areas both in the cities and the countryside.
The latest data from NBS points to a per capita residential building area of 40.8 square metres for China as a whole, with an urban figure of 36.6 square metres and a rural figure of 45.8 square metres.
The urban and rural readings for 2016 mark a 11.1% and 23.3% increase respectively compared to 2012, for average per annum gains of 2.7% and 5.4%.
Speaking to China Securities Journal, Yan Yuejin of the Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute noted that the per capita residential building area had risen markedly in the past several years, compared to the long-standing average of 33 square metres for urbanites.
Yan nonetheless considers these residential building areas to still be on the low side, primarily due to the comparatively high price of housing in China and the limited purchasing capability of domestic buyers.
“It would usually be considered that a per capita residential area of at least 50 metres would be able to satisfy the living needs of a family of three, and there is still ample space for ongoing increases.”
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