The influx of high-income foreign nationals and the housing market in a developing country: a case study of Suzhou Industrial Park, China

Increasingly globalising human and capital mobility has created new dynamics to the housing market. Foreign nationals, strengthened by inflows of foreign direct investment, have appeared in major Chinese cities. However, little scholarly attention has been paid to the impact of foreign nationals on China’s housing market. By using a case study of Suzhou, this research investigates the following research questions: How are foreign nationals associated with housing price increases in a globalising city? Where and why these impacts have been felt? This research conducted a survey questionnaire with 508 expatriate foreign nationals and built housing price data sets in Suzhou. A consumer theory provides a framework to understand different housing consumption behaviours of heterogeneous socio-economic groups. Findings represent that expatriate foreign nationals played a key role in a high-end housing market due to their higher income levels and housing subsidies provided by their employer. They tended to form ethnic communities in a prime location to better access language-specific services and quality amenity facilities.