A STUDY OF HOUSING ASPIRATION AND SOCIAL INTERACTIONS OF CHINA'S GENERATION Y TANG YUHUI (BSC,), INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL UNIVERSITY OF CHONGQING, CHINA A THESIS SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE (REAL ESTATE AND URBAN ECONOMICS) DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN AND ENVIRONMENT NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2012 I DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is my original work and it has been written by me in its entirety I have duly acknowledged all the sources of information which have been used in the thesis This thesis has also not been submitted for any degree in any university previously _ Tang Yuhui 22 April 2013 Acknowledgement Master study is a painful but rewarding journey A number of people have played a role in my research over the past years Without them, I cannot imagine how I can achieve my goal They deserve my deepest acknowledgements I am indebted to my supervisor, Professor Fu Yuming Whenever I need guidance, he always provides his valuable help in my research I thank him for helping me go through the most difficult path in the research journey He is a role model in my life I appreciate Dr Li Pei for his valuable advice and comments I am also very grateful to Ms Jackie for her proof reading and helpful comments on the thesis My thanks are also to my fellow graduate students Xu Yiqin, Liang Lanfeng, and Zhang Liang for their help and friendship I would like to thank the Department of Real Estate at the National University of Singapore for my master study My thanks are also to Professor Tu Yong and Ms Zainab Binte Abdul Ghani and Ms Nor’ Aini Binte Ali for their kind help My family members: my father, mother, mother-in-law, father-in-law, elder sister, and two little sisters, they gave me relentless support and encouragement throughout my research Without the untiring support of my husband, I cannot complete my research and the thesis Praise the LORD for His guidance, grace and love II Abstract China's generation Y (hereafter Gen Y) were born in the 1980s, and grew up in a period of rising prosperity and expanding social media exposure They gradually entered the housing market in the recent years amid rapidly rising housing prices This study seeks to investigate the housing aspirations of Gen Y in Chinese cities with a focus on the potential housing emulation behavior A survey was conducted online to sample the housing conditions, housing aspiration and socializing patterns of Gen Y Using the survey data, the study examines the correlation between housing emulation indicators and housing aspiration gaps for subsamples stratified by income levels and housing tenure, holding other observed attributes (e.g age and job positions) constant The results show that the housing aspiration gaps are positively correlated with housing emulation tendency but negatively correlated with socializing frequencies Furthermore, the correlation between housing emulation and housing aspiration gap appears higher for the high-income group and for owners For renters, on the other hand, more positive correlation is found between the housing emulation indicator and the aspiration gap with respect to neighborhood quality These findings indicate that the housing aspiration, and hence housing choices, of China’s Gen Y are linked to social interactions Keywords: Housing aspiration, Social interaction, Housing emulation, Generation Y, China III TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT II ABSTRACT III LIST OF TABLES VI LIST OF FIGURES VII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Motivation 1.2 Gen Y in China 1.3 Research aim and objectives 1.4 Summary of the main findings 1.5 Research significance 1.6 Structure of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The theory of hierarchy of needs 2.2 Housing preferences 11 2.3 Social interaction 13 2.4 Housing emulation 15 2.5 Summary 16 CHAPTER 3: EMPIRICAL STRATEGY AND SAMPLING 17 3.1 Housing aspiration 17 3.2 Latent factors of housing aspiration gaps 18 3.2.1 Personal value 18 3.2.2 Liquidity constraints 19 3.2.3 Stage of life cycle 20 3.4 Main hypotheses and modeling framework 20 3.5 Research design and methodology 22 3.5.1 Sampling 25 IV 3.5.2 Data collection 25 3.6 Data analysis method 26 3.7 Data 26 3.8 Variable definitions 28 3.8.1 Dependent variables 28 3.8.2 Other key variables 32 CHAPTER 4: EMPIRICAL RESULTS 34 4.1 Empirical structure 34 4.2 Descriptive analysis 34 4.3 Housing aspiration gaps and objective attributes 36 4.4 Correlations between housing aspiration gap and emulation indicators 39 4.4.1 Partial correlations 39 4.4.2 Raw correlations 41 4.4.3 Partial correlations stratified by income and homeownership 41 4.5 Policy implications 45 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 46 5.1 Summary of key findings 46 5.2 Contribution 48 5.3 Limitations 49 5.4 Recommendations for future research 50 REFERENCES 51 APPENDIX A: VARIABLE DESCRIPTION AND SUMMARY STATISTICS 56 APPENDIX B: SURVEY FORM 58 V List of Tables Table 3.1: City profile in 2010 23 Table 3.2: Number of observations by Gen Y’s personal information 27 Table 3.3: Factor analysis 29 Table 3.4: Factor loadings (pattern matrix) and unique variances 30 Table 3.5: Group mean of factor score 31 Table 3.6: Variable description and summary of statistics 33 Table 4.1: Housing aspiration gaps sample mean (s.d) by housing emulation 34 Table 4.2: Housing aspiration gap sample mean (s.d) by income 35 Table 4.3: Housing aspiration gap sample mean (s.d) by socializing frequencies 35 Table 4.4: Housing aspiration gap sample mean (s.d) by personal value variation 36 Table 4.5: Estimation of the impacts of observed attributes on housing aspiration gaps, and the relative gaps regarding structure, neighborhood and location qualities 37 Table 4.6: Partial correlations between subjective variables 39 Table 4.7: Raw correlation coefficients 41 Table 4.8: Partial correlations within the low-income group (obs=338) 42 Table 4.9: Partial correlations within the high-income group (obs=262) 42 Table 4.10: Partial correlations within the renter group (obs=233) 42 Table 4.11: Partial correlations within the home-owner group (obs=368) 43 Table 4.12: The impacts of observed attributes and housing emulation on actual housing choice 43 VI List of Figures Figure 2.1: Hierarchical Needs of Humans (Maslow, 1943) Figure 3.1 Beijing population age distribution in 2000 23 Figure 3.2 Chongqing population age distribution in 2000 24 Figure 3.3 Dazhou population age distribution in 2000 24 VII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Motivation China’s Gen Y were born in the 1980s, and grew up in a period of rising prosperity and expanding social media exposure They gradually entered the housing market in the recent years amid rapidly rising housing prices This study empirically investigates the housing aspirations of Gen Y in Chinese cities with a focus on the potential housing emulation behavior In particular, the study seeks to understand the gaps between these aspirations and the current housing conditions of this generation, and the latent contributing factors of such gaps In this study, “China’s Generation Y” (Gen Y) is defined as young adults born between 1980 and 1990 Also known as the Post-80s, this cohort is affected by China’s one-child policy (Stanat, 2005) Most of the Gen Y in cities have attended universities and some also have several year’s work experience They are around the marriage age and started entering the homeownership market in the recent years amid rapidly rising housing prices This study has four main motivations First, the population size of Gen Y is large The cohort size is approximately 163 million, accounting for 14% of the total population in China (National Bureau of Statistics, 2010) The housing demand of this generation can have a significant impact on the housing market Moreover, their housing preferences would evolve in the face of significant changes in their income, family structure over life cycle Second, the housing aspirations of Gen Y are more “social” than earlier generations, in that housing is perceived not only as an asset and a consumption good, but also a ‘status good’ (or a ‘positional good’) (Wei et al., 2012) Owning a more expensive home relative to those owned by their peers would give members of Gen Y important satisfaction A recent survey by Shanghai Daily in March 2010 found Chinese mothers with young daughters inclined to want their daughters to marry a man with housing properties, especially with expensive properties Third, Gen Y’s social circle is distinct from the earlier generations They are more exposed to digital media (like computers, mobile phones and internet) and rely more on it to connect with their friends, to share information and perceptions The digital media broadens their social network and interactions, potentially subjecting them to greater social pressure In particular, acquisition of properties by their friends would create pressure for them to the same Fourth, Gen Y face greater financial pressure The income of this group is generally lower than that of the Post-70s or elder generation About 50% of Gen Y’s monthly income is below the average monthly income of Chinese urban workers in 2010 (CNY 3,095, CNY=0.1576 USD) (Guangzhou Daily, 2010) Most of Gen Y cannot afford a commodity apartment (i.e apartment sold at market prices) with their own incomes Their ability to buy a home depends much on their parents and relatives Their constrained financial capability may impede them from buying desired homes Housing aspiration gaps are defined as the difference between the aspirations for various housing quality attributes and the current housing quality of individuals Understanding the overall housing aspiration gaps as well as the gaps with respect to References Asberg, P (1999) "Housing decisions of young Swedish adults." 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Journal of Real Estate Research 33(1): 105-125 55 APPENDIX A: Variable Description and Summary Statistics Table A: Variable description and summary statistics Variable City Gender Age Married Child Edu_high WU Income Home_owner Job_position HMStatus EffortAH Ctype Csize CAmen CAcce CDesi Description Dummy: 0= Beijing; 1= Chongqing; 3= Dazhou Binary : the individual is male Individual’s age: the difference between 2011 and the year of birth Binary: being married Binary: with child Binary: person being undergraduate education and above The nature of individual’s working unit: 1=Government organization; 2= SOE; 3= self-employment; 4=Joint-venture; 5=Foreign enterprise; 6=Student Binary: monthly income greater than 10,000 CNY Binary: person being a home owner Binary variable: if job position is higher than middle level Individual believes that home shows social status: 1=strongly disagree, to strongly agree Efforts taken to attain desired home in future: 1=small, to 5=huge Current housing type: 1=government housing; 2=financing house; 3=commodity house without community); 4=commodity house with community; 5=luxury apartment; 6=terraced house Current housing size: 1= 1-room; 2=2-room; 3=3-room; 4=4-room; 5=5-room and above Current neighborhood amenity: 1=none, 2=a few; 3=neutral; 4=comprehensive; 5=very comprehensive Current accessibility: 1=very inconvenient; 2=inconvenient; 3=neutral; 4=convenient; 5=very convenient Current housing design: 1=no design; 2=simple design; 3=acceptable; 4=relatively high; 5=high 56 Mean (s.d.) 1.89 (0.76) 0.53 (0.50) 26.81 (2.77) 0.44 (0.50) 0.24 (0.43) 0.75 (0.44) 3.10 (1.57) 0.45 (0.34) 0.61 (0.49) 0.22 (0.42) 2.99 (0.98) 3.77 (1.01) 3.42 (0.97) 2.28 (0.91) 3.73 (1.06) 3.58 (1.04) 2.42 (0.88) Table A: Variable description and summary statistics (continue) Variable CHLevel CNELevel CNSState SatHouse AType ASize AAmen AAcce ADesi AHLevel ANELevel ANSState Description Current housing level: 1=low; 2=relatively low; 3=acceptable; 4=good; 5=very good Current education level of individual’s neighbors: 1=low; 2=relatively low; 3=acceptable; 4=good; 5=very good Current social status of individual’s neighbors: 1=low; 2=relatively low; 3=acceptable; 4=good; 5=very good Satisfaction with current housing: 1=very unsatisfactory; 2=unsatisfactory; 3=neutral; 4= relatively satisfactory; 5= satisfactory Individual’s aspiration house type: 1=government housing; 2=financing house; 3=commodity house without community); 4=commodity house with community; 5=luxury apartment; 6=terraced house Individual’s aspiration house size: 1= 1-room; 2=2-room; 3=3-room; 4=4-room; 5=5-room and above Individual’s aspiration neighborhood amenity: 1=none, 2=a few; 3=neutral; 4=comprehensive; 5=very comprehensive Individual’s aspiration accessibility: 1=very inconvenient; 2=inconvenient; 3=neutral; 4=convenient; 5=very convenient Individual’s aspiration house design: 1=no design; 2=simple design; 3=acceptable; 4=relatively high; 5=high Individual’s aspiration house level: 1=low; 2=relatively low; 3=acceptable; 4=good; 5=very good Individual’s aspiration neighbors’ education level: 1=low; 2=relatively low; 3=acceptable; 4=good; 5=very good Individual’s aspiration neighbors’ social status: 1=low; 2=relatively low; 3=acceptable; 4=good; 5=very good 57 Mean (s.d.) 2.80 (0.84) 2.67 (1.22) 2.18 (1.33) 2.93 (1.05) 4.63 (1.13) 3.43 (0.97) 3.93 (0.79) 3.98 (0.79) 3.76 (0.81) 3.79 (0.73) 3.82 (0.75) 3.43 (0.75) APPENDIX B: SURVEY FORM Survey on the Post-80s’ Housing Conditions Dear Friends: Thank you so much for spending your valuable time the survey I am a postgraduate student at the Department of Real Estate, National University of Singapore My research focuses on the housing challenges facing the post-80s generation in China Hence, I would like to invite you to share with us your current housing conditions and housing expectations I sincerely hope China’s urban development can provide us with liveable homes My research will facilitate the understanding of the post-80s’ housing needs and our attitudes towards housing, and shed light on the gaps for urban development All information I obtain will be used solely for the purpose of research Thank you in advance for your help Section I: Background Information 1.1 The city you live in: (1) Beijing (2)Chongqing (3) Dazhou 1.2 Your gender: (1)Male (2)Female 1.3 Year of Birth: _ 1.4 Marital status: (1)Single (2) Married 1.5 Do you have child? 58 (1)No (2)Yes 1.6 Highest academic qualifications you attained (1)Pre- high school (2) High school (3) College (4) Undergraduate (5) Post-graduate 1.7 Highest academic qualifications you spouse attained (Note: ignore this question if you’re not married.) (1)Pre- high school (2)High school (3) College (4) Undergraduate (5) Post-graduate 1.8 Your work unit is: (1) Government (2) State-owned enterprises (SOE) (3) Self-employment (3) Joint-venture (4) Foreign enterprise (5) Student (6) Not available 1.9 Your designation (1) Junior staff (2) Middle (3) Senior (4) Not available (if you are students or unemployed) 1.10 Your monthly income (in RMB): (1) Not available (6) 4,000-6,000 (2)15,000 1.11 Location of your accounts and account types: (1) Local: A Urban Hukou; B Rural Hukou (2) Non-local: A Urban Hukou, B Rural Hukou 1.12 Your party relationship: (1) Communist (2) Democratic Party (3) Independent individual 1.13 Currently you financially support your family or loved ones? (1) No (2) A little (3) Neutral (4) Some Section II: Social Relation 2.1 The way you contact with your friends 59 (5) A lot 2.1.1 No of close friends (1) Not available (2) to (3) to (4) to 10 (5)>10 2.1.2 No of friends in the internet (1) 0-50 (2) 50 to 100 (3) 101 to 200 (4) 201 to 400 (5) >400 2.1.3 Did you often invite your friends to your home? (1) Never (2) Occasionally (3)Sometimes (4) Often (5) Very often 2.1.4 Did you often go out with your friends for party? (1)Never (2) Occasionally (3) Sometimes (4) Often (5) Very often 2.1.5 How you contact with your friends when you not see each other? (1)Dating websites (QQ, miniblog, Renren, etc.) (2) Phone (3) Email (4) Others 2.1.6 The frequency you contact with your friends using the above-mentioned way when you not see each other (1)Very low (2) Low (3)Neutral (4) High (5) Very high 2.2 Personal outlook (Please think carefully and then fill in, thanks!) 2.2.1 We all face pressure due to the society or families, you agree that family harmony is more important than career success? (1) Strongly disagree (2) Disagree (3) Neutral (4) Agree (5)Strongly agree 2.2.2 Do you agree that personal fortune is more important relative to social contribution? (1) Strongly disagree (2) Disagree (3) Neutral (4) Agree (5)Strongly agree 2.2.3 Do you agree that self-identity is more important than social esteem? (1) Strongly disagree (2) Disagree (3) Neutral (4) Agree (5)Strongly agree 2.2.4 Do you think house represents social status? (1) Strongly disagree (2) Disagree (3) Neutral (4) Agree (5)Strongly agree 2.2.5 Your happiness index (Please rate the degree of the happiness of your life) 60 (1: unhappy, 5: Very happy) 2.3 Friends’ interaction 2.3.1 If all your friends have better life quality, what is your desire to have the same level of life quality with them with efforts? (1) Very low (2) Low (3) Neutral (4) High (5) Very high 2.3.2 If your friends have good quality houses, what is your desire to have the same level of house with efforts? (1) Very low (2) Low (3) Neutral (4) High (5) Very high 2.3.3 Do you often share opinions with friends? (1)Occasionally (2)Sometimes (3)Often ( 4)Very often (5) Always Section III: Reality Housing Situation and Housing Aspirations 3.1 Reality housing situation 3.1.1 The administrative area your housing: _(e.g Haidian District in Beijing) 3.1.2 Age of your housing (1) Less than 10 years (2) More than 10 years 3.1.3 Ownership of your housing (1) Rental (2)Owned 3.1.4 Who you stay with (multiple choices) (1) Parents (2)Spouse/Partner (3)Friends (4)Alone 3.1.5 Did your parents or other family members financially support you to buy the current housing? (1)Not at all (2) Small portion (3) Around 50% of the total expense (4) More than 61 50% (5)100% 3.1.6 Type of your housing (1) Government housing (2) Financing homes (3) Commodity houses(non-community) (4) Commodity houses with community (5) Luxury apartments (6) Terraced houses 3.1.7 Size of your current housing (excluding kitchen, living room) (1) 1-room (2) 2-room (3) 3-room (4) 4-room (5)5-room and above 3.1.8 The level of amenities in current neighborhood (1) None (2) A few (3) Neutral (4) Comprehensive (5) Very comprehensive 3.1.9 Is your current location able to access to public transport? (1) Very inconvenient (2) Inconvenient (3) Neutral (4) Convenient (5) Very convenient 3.1.10 The design of your current housing: (Please think carefully prior to filling in) (1) Low (no design) (2) Tolerable (simple design) (3)Acceptable (4) Relatively high (5)High 3.1.11 The grade of your current housing (e.g surrounding, please think carefully) (1) Low (2) Relatively low (3) Acceptable (4)Good (5)Very good 3.1.12 Education level of your current neighborhood (1)No idea (2) Low (3) Relatively low (4)Neutral (5)Relatively high (6)High 3.1.13 Social status of your current neighborhood (1)No idea (2) Low (3) Relatively low (4)Neutral (5)Relatively high (6)High 3.1.14 Social function of your current housing (1) Low (2) Relatively low (3)Neutral (4)Relatively high (5)High 3.1.15 Are you satisfied with your current housing? (1)Very unsatisfactory (2) Unsatisfactory (3) Neutral (3) Relatively satisfactory (5) Satisfactory 62 3.2 Your housing aspiration in 10 years (Dear friends, This section is designed to understand your housing expectations in 10-15 years Please think about your life plan, and your future family situation, and then answer the questions with respect to your housing aspiration I hope what you choose are the goals that you really want to achieve and are also achievable Thank you!) 3.2.1 To what extent, you believe your income will increase in 10 years? (1) Very low (2) Low (3) Neutral (4) High (5) Very high 3.2.2 Do you intend to take life time learning? (1) No (2) Yes 3.2.3 To what extent, you believe your living conditions be improved? (1) Very low (2) Low (3) Neutral (4) High (5) Very high 3.2.4 Please rate the importance of the housing attributes below Housing attributes Housing size Amenities Accessibility Housing level Neighborhood Housing social function 1-very unimportant; 6-very important 3.2.5 The administrative area you would like to live in: _ (e.g Haidian District in Beijing) (Assuming you’ll remain living in the same city) 3.2.6 Type of your dream housing (1) Government housing (2) Financing homes (3) Commodity houses (non-community) (4) Commodity houses with community (5) Luxury apartments (6) Terraced houses 63 3.2.7 Size of your dream housing (excluding kitchen, living room) (1) 1-room (2) 2-room (3) 3-room (4) 4-room (5)5-room and above 3.2.8 The level of amenities in your dream housing neighborhood (1) None (2) A few (3) Neutral (4) Comprehensive (5) Very comprehensive 3.2.9 Do you expect your dream housing location able to access to public transport? (1) Very inconvenient (2) Inconvenient (3) Neutral (4) Convenient (5) Very convenient 3.2.10 The design of your dream housing: (Please think carefully prior to filling in) (1) Low (no design) (2) Tolerable (simple design) (3) Acceptable (4) Relatively high (5) High 3.2.11 The grade of your dream housing (e.g surrounding, please think carefully) (1) Low (2) Relatively low (3) Acceptable (4)Good (5)Very good 3.2.12 Education level of your dream housing neighborhood (1)No idea (2) Low (3) Relatively low (4) Neutral (5)Relatively high (6)High 3.2.13 Social status of your dream housing neighborhood (1)No idea (2) Low (3) Relatively low (4)Neutral (5)Relatively high (6)High 3.2.14 Social function of your dream housing (1) Low (2) Relatively low (3)Neutral (4)Relatively high (5)High 3.2.15 To what extent, you think you need financial support from your family member to buy a house in future? (1)Low (2) Very low (3) Neutral (4) High (5) Very high 3.2.12 In order to obtain your dream housing, what kind of effort you should undertake: (1)Small (2) Neutral (3)Somewhat great 64 (4) Great (5)Huge 3.3 Your telephone number: (Please provide your telephone number so that I can discuss with you if there is any query Thank you so much) End of survey! Deeply appreciate your support and participation! (Please press “submit” button before you close the webpage! Thank you!) 65 ... shaping individuals’ housing aspiration and priorities This study also adapts the concept of emulation for analyzing the role of social interactions, via housing emulation, in shaping housing aspiration. .. The amenities of reality housing The accessibility of reality housing The quality and design of reality housing The level of reality housing The education of reality neighborhood The social status... very high Satisfaction with current housing: 1=very unsatisfactory; 2=unsatisfactory; 3=neutral; 4= relatively satisfactory; 5= satisfactory The type of reality housing The size of reality housing