Finding an Apartment in Hangzhou

Finding a good apartment is difficult, regardless of where you are. Needless to say, finding a good apartment in a foreign country can be a major headache. Before you even start dealing with the issues that occasionally arise from living anywhere (roommate issues, utility problems, creative plumbing), there’s the search for that ideal place to put your stuff and rest your head at night. But don’t worry. Finding an apartment to live in Hangzhou can be a great experience. It all depends on how you go about it.

If you want professional help in your apartment search, there are three major real estate companies in Hangzhou, each with a slightly different specialty. Huabang Dichun (华邦地产) focuses on apartment purchases. Unless you plan on buying a place in Hangzhou, don’t bother with them. If you ARE interested in buying though, their staff is extremely helpful. Their website, http://www.hzhuabang.net can at least give you an idea of what sort of services they offer. Wo Ai Wo Jia (我爱 我家) helps with both renting and buying apartments. Their website address is http://hz.5i5j.com. Finally, Shengshi Guanjia (盛世管家) serves people exclusively looking to rent. Their website is http://www.34home.com/index.action. Plan on bringing a Chinese friend along to any of these places if you can’t speak Chinese, as the staff will likely not speak English. These certainly aren’t the only real estate companies in Hangzhou, just the biggest.

If you prefer to perform your own search, which foreigners in Hangzhou typically end up doing if their housing isn’t included in their contract, the Internet’s the best place to start. There are two useful discussion forums that serve Hangzhou’s expat community. The first is “Hangzhou Expat Forum”, and the second is the classified section of “More Hangzhou” Magazine’s website. These sites are also great if you’re looking for roommates, an ayi, E-bikes, a place to drink, whatever.

In addition, three Chinese forums focus exclusively on apartments. Most expats find “Hangzhou Expat Forum” and “More Hangzhou” sufficient, but these other sites are worth checking out if you want to expand your search outside of Hangzhou’s expat circle. They are http://hangzhou.koubei.com , http://www.19lou.com , and http://hangzhou.fangtoo.com .If you can’t read Chinese, then you’d better ask a Mandarin-reading friend to help you out.

Like any other city, the two largest determinants of housing prices in Hangzhou are location and amenities available at a given property. Because development for the past three decades has been so rapid in Hangzhou, it’s easiest to deal with amenities in terms of a property’s age. Properties built during the same time period tend to offer the same sorts of comforts and quality to their residents. In terms of location, the three most expensive areas are West Lake, the Qiantang River in the south, and the Grand Canal. If you can see any of these three things from an apartment, expect to pay significantly more.

Though the Internet’s a powerful tool, it’s important to have a feeling for real estate prices before you commit to anything. Since most expats settling in Hangzhou are short-term renters, we’ll focus on prices first. The following prices are just to give you an idea of what to expect. If you look around a bit, it’s not hard to find outliers both on the absurdly low and absurdly high end of the pricing scale. Based on personal experience, I’d recommend avoiding dirt-cheap places. Unfortunately, I still lack any first-hand experience of living in the exorbitant villas and sky palaces that occupy the other end of the real estate market.

Hangzhou’s available housing stock is fairly new, and there are very few free apartments built before 1980. Apartments built in the 1980s through 1990s generally rent for 2,000 RMB per month for a basic one bedroom, one bathroom apartment, usually with a small kitchen and living room. Basic two bedrooms on average go for 2,500 RMB a month. New one-bedroom apartments (i.e. apartments built since the turn of the millennium) rent on average for between 3,000 RMB and 4,000 RMB a month. If you need something bigger and would prefer a new apartment, post-millennial two-bedroom apartments generally rent for between 4,000 RMB and 5,000 RMB a month. Hangzhou’s real estate market is diverse enough that you’ll eventually find something that aligns with your living preferences, more or less.

Many of the most recently built one-bedroom apartments tend to resemble hotel rooms more than apartments. Some people like this, and some detest it - it all depends on personal preference. There is more diversity in terms of layout among new apartments with two-bedrooms or more, which makes sense as there is simply more space to arrange. In general, Chinese youths prefer newer apartments because they view them as slicker and more modern, while the older generation prefers older apartments, as they are perceived to have better social communities.

Two of the most expensive areas in the city are Hangzhou’s densely packed downtown, around the south east of West Lake, and the less densely populated rolling hills to the west of West Lake. Living space in Hangzhou’s city centre sells on average for 70,000 RMB per square meter. Part of this high price tag is convenience, but status undoubtedly also comes into play here. The priciest homes in the entire city are located in the hills above West Lake’s west shore, north of the city centre in an area called Jiuxi Meigui Yuan （九溪玫瑰园）.  Houses in this neighbourhood go for around 100,000 RMB per square meter. Jiuxi Meigui is considered Hangzhou’s “Big Boss” neighbourhood, for obvious reasons.