On January 14, a piece of news regarding the housing prices in Shuangyashan, Heilongjiang Province made waves, with the headline “Two-story apartments at Qixing Mine in Heilongjiang being sold for a mere 10,000 yuan (Chinese currency) per unit” trending online and sparking discussions.
According to a report by Cover News, on January 13, Mr. Li, a homeowner, was interviewed. He mentioned that at Qixing Mine in Shuangyashan, Heilongjiang Province, the top-floor units are priced at 10,000 yuan each, while the units on the first, second, and third floors are priced at around 30,000-40,000 yuan per unit. Schools and supermarkets are nearby, with no rent required for renting a house, just the payment of heating and property management fees, totaling less than 2,000 yuan.
Mr. Li explained that most of the properties were built by developers and are less than ten years old. Due to the decline of the local coal mine industry and a decrease in population, there are more buildings than residents, hence the low prices. He himself sold two units for 30,000 yuan each last year.
Qixing Mine in Shuangyashan City is located about 40-50 kilometers away from the city center, which some netizens find too remote.
An internet user from Heilongjiang with the username “ylmwxh” mentioned that in Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province, apartments have been sold for as low as 10,000-20,000 yuan per unit (excluding top-floor units) for over 20 years, but people are not buying due to the mandatory heating fees charged for top-floor and sub-top-floor units, even if they choose not to use the heating services during the heating season.
The term “Heilongjiang-ization” signifies the phenomenon where regions see a significant drop in housing prices, a trend that originated in Hegang City in northeastern Heilongjiang Province. In developed southern China, many cities are experiencing over a 50% decrease in housing prices, leading to a development similar to that of Hegang City and posing a new economic challenge.
With foreign companies pulling out and China’s economy slowing down, the skyrocketing unemployment rate has triggered a nationwide freefall in the housing market. Presently, there are 25 provinces and 95 cities in China witnessing the phenomenon of “Heilongjiang-ization” in housing prices.
Chinese media have reported that economically prosperous regions like the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Pearl River Delta, and Chengdu-Chongqing region have also been impacted by the trend of “Heilongjiang-ization.”
For instance, in Zhangjiakou City, located about 100 kilometers from Beijing, a two-bedroom apartment with a living room covering 60 square meters can be bought for 60,000 yuan, with the total price around 100,000 yuan.
Similarly, affordable housing options can be found in the metropolitan areas around Chengdu and Chongqing.
The province of Guangdong, the leading economic province in China, also has five cities experiencing “Heilongjiang-ization”, including Sihui, Heshan, Jieyang – a small textile center, Heyuan, and Qingyuan, where residential properties have plummeted to “bargain prices”.