New article on The affordability of owner occupied housing in Beijing

A new article by Zan Yang and Yue Shen in Journal of Housing and the Built Environment

2008 The affordability of owner occupied housing in Beijing, Vol. 23, Number 4, pp. 317-335.

Abstract
Facilitating home ownership and providing more affordable housing has received considerable attention in urban China. However, it remains a challenge to develop better measurements of affordability due to the income disparity and housing inequality in Beijing. In this study, a new measure of affordability is defined by residual income. Therefore, a minimum required budget for a family to purchase a "standard" unit is deduced by accounting for the basic necessities and financial loans. This paper also discusses the deficiencies of the implemented "Economic Housing Plan" on bridging the housing affordability gap.

Keywords: Housing affordability, Low- to medium-income household, Residual income, Economic housing plan, Beijing, China