Much ado about low housing prices in some cities

Hegang, a small fourth-tier city in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, has become a buzzword on the internet because some news reports have said that one can buy an apartment there for as little as 20,000 yuan ($2,982), which is not enough to buy even 1 square meter of housing in most of the first-or second-tier cities.

The local housing management has responded to the sensational news saying that housing prices in Hegang have been generally steady, while the extremely low housing prices are limited to particular types of housing.

The average housing price in Hegang, although relatively low, is about 3,000 yuan or more per sq m. So, one cannot buy an apartment there for 20,000 yuan under normal circumstances. Besides, homebuyers have to pay a comparatively high decoration cost, which in turn means the "cost performance ratio" of such houses is actually not high.