Commodification and housing market cycles in Chinese cities

The paper assesses how housing commodification in China has been used to cope with the impact of financial crises and open up new opportunities to boost economic growth. In particular, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the injection of capital has led to a new housing market cycle. We explain the major housing market cycles after 1978 and suggest an underlying linkage with macroeconomic measures aimed at making housing a more 'liquid' asset and richer households increasingly using second homes as an investment strategy. Further, the Chinese form of development regime is examined, revealing the role of local government in promoting housing markets, on the one hand, and the concern of central government with property bubbles and financial risks - leading to the adaptation of a more regulated approach to restrict housing sales - on the other. We argue that housing market cycles should be understood by seeing how property development is at the centre of urban development in China.