Luxury villa owners paying for prestige, not pleasure

Beijing (CNS) -- China's best villa communities are situated in Guangzhou, Shanghai and Dalian, according to the latest top 10 report released on Tuesday, but they may not deserve their fame as the report suggests.

Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou have two contenders each, with the rest in Dalian, Chengdu, Huizhou and Nanning, according to the list co-compiled by the World Executive (WE, icxo.com), the World Real Estate Academy and the Meet Boss magazine.

This ninth annual list based its evaluation standards on the publicity, cost performance, property management quality, rate of return on investment, satisfaction level of property owners, and the location of the villa community nominees.

However, the report expressed doubt whether the purpose of these high-life communities is always faithfully served.

In first-tier Chinese cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, a luxurious residence is not actually a luxurious experience, though prices have been soaring for an entire decade and are now almost five times the original, according to Ding Haisen, head of Meet Boss magazine.

Air quality rankles in particular, but there are also time limits on land use, unsatisfactoryg designs, and deficient facilities that puzzle villa hunters, not to mention the fear of being trapped in a real estate bubble.

Wealthy Chinese are more eager to own villas than others, concluded the report, however, they are paying a big bill for what amounts to a chance to show off their wealth, rather than the pleasure of living in these places, pointed out Yuan Haodong, president of the WE.