After she signed the contract for her new apartment in southern China, Guo Miaomiao, 32, went through the mental list of what she’d enjoy as a homeowner. Leather sofa in the living room. A pumpkin pendant lamp she was eyeing up online.
And most importantly, a way to challenge expectations in China about the role women should play in marriage.
“I have seen many cases, including among my relatives and friends, where the husband buys the house, and the moment the couple argues, the husband asks her out,” said Ms. Gu, who works for a technology company. in Guangzhou. “It gives me confidence that if I get married, I won’t be afraid of anything. Even if I leave him, I can live independently.”
Ms. Gu is one of a growing number of single Chinese women buying real estate – a trend that is damaging one of Chinese society’s greatest gender norms. For centuries, men, regardless of their income level, were expected to own a home to be eligible for marriage. For married women, their husbands’ home effectively becomes their only home, as they are no longer considered part of their family, or as the Chinese proverb goes: “A married daughter is like splashing water.”
Now, more Chinese women are claiming homes of their own.
a A recent study By China Youth Daily, a state-run newspaper, it found that nearly 94 percent of respondents approved of single women buying property, with two-thirds saying it indicated a desire for gender equality. While official statistics on the actual homeownership rate are limited, One government survey In 2020, it found that the share of single women who own property has risen to 10.3 percent, from 6.9 percent a decade ago. The numerical bump was even greater, with the number of single women age 25 and over increasing by nearly 10 million over the same period.
The increase in the number of women buyers coincides with severe disruption in China’s housing sector. Lots of developers big and small ran out of money and left apartments unfinished, turning away potential clients. Buyers like Ms. Guo saw an opportunity: She took advantage of falling home prices and mortgage rates to purchase an expired, partially furnished two-bedroom unit.
On Chinese social media, real estate agents have begun targeting single women, posting promotional videos with hashtags such as “a tiny house suitable for single ladies”.
“It’s an awakening toward women’s rights,” said Wang Mingqi, an assistant professor of anthropology at Duke Kunshan University in Suzhou who has studied the property-buying patterns of young Chinese men. This shift is part of the growing interest in women’s rights in general. Although the Chinese government, as part of its larger crackdown on civil society, has attempted to clamp down on feminist activists and organizations, topics such as the #MeToo movement and lack of protections from domestic violence have frequently topped social media discussions in recent years. Concerns about a slowing economy and an emerging preference for an independent lifestyle have also led many young Chinese to reject marriage altogether, as the number of marriage registrations in 2022 fell to a record low of 6.8 million.
Ms. Guo, a Guangzhou homebuyer, developed housing insecurities from an early age. She grew up in a large family with eight siblings in a conservative area of Guangdong Province, and it became clear, through things said by her relatives and friends, that once she married, she would not be able to live in her parents’ house any longer.
Mrs. Jo, who described herself as a rebel by nature, decided early on to buy herself a house. After graduating from college, she has worked in many major cities across China, seeking increasingly ambitious job opportunities. In the past five years, I have saved $70,000. And in March, she turned her dream into a reality.
“I want to prove to everyone that women are not limited to the only marriage option. I can have many other options,” Ms. Guo said.
Besides changing attitudes, practical changes such as rising incomes also helped to increase the rate of single women owning homes. In 2021, the number of Chinese women with a college education has exceeded the number of men, according to official statistics. The number of female workers in urban areas has increased by about 40 percent compared to the past decade.
Legal developments have also increased wives’ awareness of the financial risks of living in homes owned by their husbands. Until 2011, divorce courts treated family homes as joint property. But with real estate prices and divorce rates soaring, China’s Supreme Court has ruled that property acquired before marriage is owned only by the person who made the down payment or purchased the property outright — leaving many divorced women essentially homeless, even if they made a contribution. Mortgage payments.
This change helped Zhang Ye, a 27-year-old accountant in the western city of Xi’an, convince her parents to help her buy an apartment. She said she would have to help her future husband make the mortgage payments anyway, so her property would be a smarter and safer financial investment.
“Otherwise, after I get married, I’ll pay the mortgage with my husband, but I still don’t have the place,” she said.
Mrs. Zhang’s parents agreed to pay most of the down payment for a riverside apartment that had a previous owner.
In the southern Chinese city of Changsha, women make up more than half of the people who have bought homes through Beike Zhaofang, one of the country’s largest online real estate agencies, the company said. The women either bought homes on their own or invested in them with partners, according to Beike, which said Changsha was the city with the highest proportion of women buyers, based on transactions on its platform.
The latest trend is still far from overturning the longstanding gender imbalance in property ownership. In 2018, the rate of property ownership among all urban residents was only half that of male residents, according to a Peking University study. The gap is more pronounced in rural areas.
By contrast, it is common for families who are struggling financially to help sons buy property—even taking on debts if necessary—because of the belief that it is a prerequisite for marriage.
Tyler Wu, a real estate agent in Changsha, said many of the young women he interviewed chose smaller condominiums or formerly owned apartments.
Traditional expectations can discourage potential buyers in other ways, too. On social media, women shared that men they were set up with through matchmaking services became less interested in them when they learned they already owned property.
Ms. Zhang’s friend from five years ago objected when she told him that she had decided to buy real estate. She said he feared it would detract from her ability to help pay the mortgage after their marriage. But Mrs. Zhang ignored him.
“I didn’t bother trying to convince him,” she said. “Since I was a kid, whatever decision I make, I stick to it.”