Assuming you refer to Chinese friends, it's best you just avoid this topic.

When I really have to, my answer is that I'm not renting a concrete shoebox that will most likely end up surrounded by rude peasants for several times the price most places in the world would charge for a real individual home and real ownership. If you can say that in Chinese, the conversation usually ends here, with quiet nods.

My wife caught that line, she uses it with real estate agents. They cut the crap right away as well, and considering how desperate they are to dump their garbage these days, I know it's a good line.
 

Okay, car. I don't have any use for a car, or rather, cons outnumber the pros in an embarrassing proportion. When I need to go somewhere, I'd rather have other people deal with the traffic for me. I have too little patience and I see red way too fast for it not to end badly soon or sooner.

I used to think the same as you about cars. And taxis and busses are inexpensive etc. But man does having a car to drive improve life. 

1. No more breathing farts and vehicle exhaust. 

2. No more noise

3. No more taxis that overcharge or don't want to go where you are going

4. Seatbelts

5. ... and it doesn't have to be that expensive

The downsides

1. Traffic

2. Parking

3. Idiots driving

An apartment.  NO WAY. Prices being high is one thing, you know, people need a place to live. But the quality is in the dumps. You would have to be permanently renovating or willing to live with paint falling off the walls etc. The house back home that I grew up in, it is in better condition than most new apartments here. Stuff here is just not built to last. In my old town back home I can easily buy an apartment in a 200 year old building. It would not be any less comfortable than living in a brand new building. Here if you buy something 30 year old.... well, good luck. 

I bought a car, secondhand, good price, handles well, and still has a few years left in it. Because it's secondhand I don't care if it gets banged up a little, and the purpose is to just get familiar with the roads of my city and get used to Chinese driving before I upgrade to a better car. Parking is free in my apartment complex, and I don't drive it very often, so it doesn't cost much to maintain it. It's just good to have when I want to go to the beach or some nearby town so I don't have to deal with the hassle of public transportation. 

I'm considering a house/apartment since I might stay in China long term, but I would buy it outside the city center, maybe in a developing area since it will be cheaper, and when the real estate market takes a dip.

On a side note, don't fool yourself about the prospect of a real estate market bubble bursting. The government keeps housing prices artificially high for awhile, drops the prices a little bit for a short time to spur people to buy, and then raises the prices a little higher afterwards. That's been the pattern for the last 20 years so I don't expect it to change. 

I agree with Scand about the car. Cars sure do make life easier. Finding somewhere to park is the hardest. Yeah you get pissed off sometimes but the same can be said about public transport here. The best thing about my car is that during Chinese New Year the trip to my wife's hometown is so much easier. No more trips on trains filled with a million people, no lines to wait in. I don't have to fight my way to a seat. I can relax and travel at my own pace.

I grew up in a subway city in the west, so for me taking the train around is no big deal. Though I did have a car in the US in high school/college for driving outside of town.

Don't get me wrong I f-ing love cars/driving. But it's a recreational thing. Like i'd buy a car to drive out of town with if there was anything to do outside of town.

I don't want a crappy car just to have one, if i was gonna get one it'd be something cool. But i decided to go for MBA instead. About the same price and I think that was the right call in the long run.

As for housing, again in the US plenty of normal people rent. It's not like here where renting makes you a scumbag by default. I don't feel self conscious about it at all.

* Cars. I've been on a bike since an early age, it's been my daily transportation as far a I remember, together with bus/train (living in Europe). So I never been in love with cars. Here, I would rarely use a car : I commute by bike (public ones available for free), most restaurants, cinemas and parks are accessible by bus. No parking galor, no tank to refill, no road rage, no car to be fixed...

* Apartment, let's price it at 250K Euros (2 millions RMB, 2nd tier city)

  - In China, I get a 100 m2 concrete cube with no insulation in an okay district (ie. concrete jungle with some trees around, locals gawking at me for the rest everyday, zero social life going on). I can own it 70 years... or less if the local government says so. I will have access to a public education system with subpar standards, and a sad joke of a health system. If I send the kids to an international school, it will cost me more than half of my income. Every time somebody is sick, we pay it full price, either it's a flu or a cancer. Ho, and we will breath a toxic air, and never feel safe about our food. I will have very little rights, and zero representative powers.

  - In France, I get 120 m2 on a 2000 m2 land, with views on pristine hills and mountains. The house will be insulated, and follow lots of energy-saving norms. I will even get subsidies to install a solar water boiler and/or a heat pump. For the price I quote, it can be new home or a hundred( years old home that would not be out of place in a movie. I own it as long as I live, and I can transmit (yes, with some hefty succession taxes). I will have access to one of the best health system in the world, and likewise for the education system, for a bit less than half of my income. I can elect the local powers, hell, I can talk with them while they stroll at the vegetable market. Air pollution ? 10 to 20 at the pm2.5 index.

So we will pay for a home back in France, and then we'll see how things pan out in China. Yearly round trip (at my boss expense ^^) to China to see the in-laws and so that the kids stay connected with my wife's culture.

We all agree on the house deal.  Not a wise investment.  I needed something long term and stable for my family, so I negotiated a 5 year lease at my place and renovated it up to my standards (nominally).  No way I'm going to buy.  As for a car, that depends on one's needs.  I'm definitely a car lover, but China saps the joy right out of owning a car.  I really don't see the benefits since I don't work.  My wife wants to buy a car for traveling.  I say we can rent a car for traveling.

It's great to see such unanimity. This page of responses will come in handy the next time someone here tells me that I can't get married here until I buy an apartment.

Car - beats the bus any day...After one year I'm used to it. 

Free parking here too...Xiamen ain't too bad for driving though...

I don't need a car in China bus I have one back home, I have a direct bus between my residence and my workplace, it takes about 25 minutes and it is empty at the hours I usually take it.

My city has a good public transportation system with special lanes for the buses in most streets and other vehicles are absolutely forbidden on it, this is one of the rare law strictly enforced here so people don't drive on it.

Taking the bus or the MTR here is usually faster than driving, cars are only for face.

Having a car in China would be more of a hassle than anything else. There are maybe 10 times a year that I've thought "man it would be nice if I had a car right now" when I have to go to an out of the way location or if it's really tough to find a taxi that day. But for daily life, I'm more than happy with the bus and taxi options. Between driving around a bunch of maniacs, parking the thing and dealing with people trying to screw you over if you get into an accident.... yea no thanks. I've decided I would only want a car if I could easily afford a full time driver. 

As for an apartment, the cost of renting versus buying in China generally favors renting. Buying only makes sense if you know you're going to be in the same place long term and you don't believe the market will crash (who knows about the market). I can rent a nice place for a small percentage of my income while buying would be a major financial commitment for a questionable investment of questionable quality. Yea, not rushing to buy. 

There's a certain forum member who is conspicuously absent on this thread. Mike, where are you? Please tell us all that we're losers. 

Who owns the land?

The government.

Who benefits from these high prices?

The government.

What do we call people who support it?

Useful idiots.

Don't buy!

Previous to getting married I made it very clear, under no circumstances would any apartment be purchased, I still have my home in the UK and a home in Perigueux France In China [1] I would never own it, [2] what if something happened and you were refused a visa renewal. Too many things to go wrong.  I did however buy a new Buick Lacrosse when living in Zhangjiagang  for 3.6 years. I used it to travel to Suzhou, and Shanghai Hangzhou, however in Zjg it was like a magnet for the odd pedestrian and ebike rider seeking to make quick money. They'd notice the foreigner driver and fall down in front, when I would be several meters away. I car had the cameras installed front and back, so I never had to pay out. I ened up sticking to my bicycle and ebike around town. Now in Wuhan I have neither. 

My wife recently threw out 50 grand on a 2nd hand car and it just sits out on the street.  I can't get a licence and she doesn't know how to drive.

Pretty funny really.

I have thought about buying a car but honestly the traffic here sucks so bad that I just wouldn't dare. I prefer to ride around on my Honda motorcycle. It is cheap on gas, it gets me to where I want to go and I don't have to wait around for cabs. Just sucks for winter. 

As for the apartment, I already bought one. I was totally against it before but I kind of warmed up to it as I see how much it means to my wife and her family. Also, it is in a very nice area (I would say the best in the city). The complex has a mini-river, lakes, hills and trees. No cars, they must use the underground parking unless for special reasons.

It is 155 square meters but we got a deal. As I mentioned before, I worked the a-foreigner-lives-here-so-we-again face edge and it is a smaller city (if it was 1st or 2nd tier, there is NO CHANCE IN HELL I WOULD BUY). Yes, it is a concrete box but it has a hell of a view. I can't stand renting, feels like I am living on borrowed space. Is it a good investment? Because of the location, probably but who knows. 

We will start renovating it after Spring Festival and move in next year late Spring. My top priorities at that time will be a huge plasma and a mini-bar... the rest I don't care about.

I refuse to buy a car or an apartment here on principle, the principle being, I haven't got any f***ing money.

Car: yes, already bought one.

House: no, too expensive, i rather keep renting a really nice place than buying a small flat far away from civilization.

Car: yes, already bought one.

House: no, too expensive, i rather keep renting a really nice place than buying a small flat far away from civilization.

I bought a house and car at the same time, But I bought a cheaper BYD SUV S6 for Y79,000 (Why? My sons school bus fee was the same as a car payment.) so a cheaper car allowed me to put more money into buying a house. No car probs yet (knocking on wood.) BYD isn't too bad.

So monthly payments looked like this:

Car payment was : Y1600 a month after down payment for  2 years. (Paid off).

Housing Payment for 10 years in Y4000 after I put down a pretty big down payment. Otherwise the bank (China Construction) wanted to make it a 20 year housing loan and I said Hell No!  Took me 2 months to get my name on the housing title, had to go to my embassy and make an announcement that I bought a house and stupid paper work that was just a waste of time.

Next up: Applying for a Green Card based on Marriage and secure living and working status. Yeah i agree, who knows IF i'll get it, right?

I would never buy an apartment, but I have 2 cars and a motorcycle.

I can't justify the cost of a car in relation to the cost of public transportation.  Not to mention the fact that I'd be jailed for bloody murder after about a week in a road rage incident causing all people from foreignland to lose face. Apartment?  I refuse to own one of those shoddily constructed boxes that cost the equivalent of a stand-alone home in many parts of the world.

Different perspectives here... As for me, I own 2 units, property is most of the times a guaranteed investment in the long term in most parts of the world, including China. They're expensive for what you get in return, true...! I can buy better property in Europe for the same amount of money, true as well...! But this is China and the market conditions won't change in the short term, people are used to this and won't change either. Invest wisely. China is massive and still growing, there'll be someone out there willing to buy my property at some point when I decide to go home for good.

Bought both. The car is old and worth the money we paid for it. The house rose in value steeply, but remains to be seen if we can sell it. All lookers are offering too little to be serious.

Looking to emigrate, probably back to Europe. Maybe get a mortgage on a house there from the house profits here. We'll see.

yes have a car and its been a relief no buses jerk off taxi drivers and its such a time savior