Chinese parents push up school district housing prices

To Chinese parents, a "key" school is the first key to the bright future of their children.

Many parents have shifted homes to get their children admitted to "good" schools, forcing housing prices to rise drastically in areas that have good schools.

"There is a market of school district housings, because this is really just to be." a Centaline's home seller gave away the reasons.

The so-called "school district housings" refer to these houses located within the admitting range of primary or secondary schools, as long as bought and settled, children are ensured to attend school within the respective regions.

A man surnamed Luo, 31, in Beijing, paid more than double the price for a house so his child would be eligible to enroll in a "key primary school" to get better education.

The expensive school district housings are mostly the old buildings built in the eighties and nineties of the last century. Basically there are no elevators, and facilities and environment are not ideal, but the prices are much higher than many ordinary residential neighborhood.

An old and shabby house near the Beijing No.2 Experimental Primary School, one of the elite primary schools in Beijing, has exceeded 100,000 yuan (16,290 U.S. dollars) per square meter.

Luo would certainly have scoffed at these district housings, but now becoming a father, he is very understanding of this. "Some say the district housings heat is because Chinese parents are not rational, but I think just Chinese parents are too rational, which makes the district housings getting hot," he argued.

From next year, at least 90 percent of students passing out of primary schools in 19 major cities can enroll in nearby junior middle schools, and by 2016 not more than 5 percent of them can be students with special talents in arts and sports, the Ministry of Education said about its policy in a notice recently.

"Law Weekend" reporters learned that a new round of buying boom directly has led the "school district housing" which is already very expensive to "a higher level".

For example, shortly after the new policy was issued, the price of a 54-square-meter house near Zhongguancun in Beijing, where several key middle schools are located, increased by 200,000 yuan ($32,560) from the already high 3.45 million yuan.

However, in Beijing, many people are watching because the latest school policy has not been formally introduced in the city. The prices of some school district housings near junior high schools currently do not change significantly.

Many parents do believe such "key" schools, with more funding and better teachers, are crucial for children not only getting into good high schools but also for their future prospects in life.

"It is not difficult for my child to enroll in a school, but it is very difficult to get access to a 'key' school," a Wang said in Chengdu.

Even if school facilities and quality of teachers in China are largely balanced, parents still cannot resist the lure of prestigious schools because of the brand effect. Therefore, some parents' craze to select "good" schools for their children will continue.

It is also found that many parents are keen to buy the school district housings, not only because children can enter the favorite school, after a few years, the housings gradually become investments.

While parents like Luo are driving up property prices in school district, most people cannot afford to buy a tiny room nearby.

The emphasis on enrollment in nearby schools has strengthened the idea of "district housing". But it has the potential to turn into a competition of wealth, for only the wealthy can buy homes in areas with good schools.