The receding housing ladder: house price inflation, parental support, and the changing intergenerational distribution of housing in China

China has experienced very rapid house price inflation in recent years – by some 10% per annum relative to consumer price inflation. Existing house-owners have benefited from capital gain and have been able to climb the housing ladder. Young household heads – wanting to own a house and facing rising house prices relative to their incomes - have found it increasingly difficult to get onto the housing ladder. However, their difficulty is eased by the strength of family support and the developing market for housing loans. The China Household Income Project (CHIP) surveys of 2002 and 2013 are analysed to test the hypothesis that the age distributions of house ownership and of housing wealth have moved against the young. There is indeed evidence of a receding housing ladder, especially in the large cities. The paper, on an original topic, is of interest both for China and for other countries with rapid house price inflation.