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Q: Has anyone bought or is anyone considering buying an apartment here?
Especially for those of you who intend on sticking around a while. If not, why not? Is it complicated? Is it risky? Are non-Chinese nationals even allowed to own property?
Probably not http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-09-27/the-cracks-in-chinas-shiny-buildings
Foreigners are allowed to own property, it is actually a shortcut to getting a visa, most people who have read the visa rules would know that. Not sure how easy it actually is to acquire a property as there are restrictions on transferring funds into the country and possibly other obstructions.
Hell no. Have you seen the quality in these buildings? A few buildings here have cracks all over the place after being up for only a year and a half. They'll collapse soon.
As an investment? No. I'd lose a lot of equity. However, like many people here, I married into a Chinese family, and we are strongly considering buying a Chinese apartment--especially after 2015 when the housing market is all but scheduled to collapse--to keep my mother in law and her sister after we've moved back to the US. That way, the two of them can pair their pensions, and rent the places they own now to supplement their incomes (they'll need it.) It also will give my wife and I a place to stay when we visit with our children, and a place to store the stuff we decide not to take back to the US with us.
Amonk:
That sounds like a great setup you've got there. But did you say 'when you visit your children'? Would you mind if I inquire a bit: are they adult children, or are you letting them go to elementary/high school in China?
mattsm84:
Oh no. This is aspirational. Like what we plan to do in the next five to seven years. Also, with our children. We'll be taking them with us to visit their Grandma in China. I would never send them to school here. Never.
Amonk:
Oh thank God, you had me worried there for a second. I was thinking you were going to send them to Chinese public school and I was going to have to call Child Protective Services on you 
I won't buy an apartment. I rented an apartment that wasn't that old. The wood casements around the entrance and bathroom doors were rotting at the bottoms from water damage and they were next to the center hall. The Chinese have not learned that proper repairs are done in duct-tape, so they were covered in clear tape. My bathroom had a sink and western toilet (deal breaker) but the entire room was the shower. Water leaked between the tiles from bathrooms above. It would be only a matter of time before the bathroom tiles fell off.
Have theChinese ever heard of wall and ceiling insulation?
mArtiAn:
Actually duct tape is something China is sorely lacking. There's gotta be a market there. I spent an afternoon riding around trying to find some the other day. Came back with crap. Did the same thing a week later trying to find beans. Didn't put it in my chili though.
TedDBayer:
Yes if they had good duct tape, they could build entire houses from it, covering the inside of an apartment with duct-tape would be more insulation than is available now, anything is possible to make even toilets. I think to cook it, you need the generic duck-tape.
I've debated it, I would like to spend 3 to 5 good years here, so if an apartment was a worthy investment, I would buy one near where me and my girl work for living and a home office. However, the risk is crazy far too high. The housing bubble continues to get worse and worse, and I haven't seen or read any signs of housing prices dropping back to normal levels. I can't risk my money on investing in a new house, that will likely lose its value in the next few years. Even if they do truly develop new commercial business around it and build a metro train next to it, I see buying a house as too risky, unless I see signs those ghost cities start to fill up with people, and prices start to stabilize. If I find the right investment, I might jump on it, as I could easily make money renting it out after I have no need to live in it, but right now I have to wait and see.
I have two in Shanghai, one I rent out and live in the other.
Unlikely, given what people above have said.
Why buy here, when there are so many other places around the world?? (US and tax liens, I'm looking at you!!! 
)
Some of my students seemed to suggest that they hoped their places went to s****, since it would mean that they would get a new apartment in the new building they built, for cheap or free. Any word on how this works? I was in the middle of a class when I heard this and forgot to follow up afterwards.
Scandinavian:
I've only heard this as an option if the building is to be taken down as a construction company has bought the rights to build on the land. In that case it is common you will get a newly built apartment or a decent cash sum for the old.
