The 'Rat Race' in China is a result of the country's high home prices.

 

Thousands of Chinese are going underground as property values in China continue to rise, generating what locals refer to as the "rat race." buying property in qatar for expats

Hu, a local laborer, rents a 43-square-foot unit for 400 yuan ($65.85) a month beneath a wealthy downtown apartment complex, with no air conditioning and a common toilet down the hall.

"I can't afford to rent a place," Hu said, declining to offer his full name to MSN News. "I wouldn't live here if I wasn't trying to save money."

According to MSN, living in subterranean apartments is not banned in China. And the "rat race" is becoming worse, with "casualties" of an out-of-control housing market.

China's new home prices rose again in December, reaching their highest level of the year.

Despite the fact that housing prices appear to be edging away from people, economists say the government is wary of adopting national property restrictions for fear of a negative economic impact.

Local governments in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing, on the other hand, have all taken steps to calm the property market.

"Some people can afford many residences, while others can't afford one," Mao Yushi, co-founder of the Unirule Institute of Economics, a Beijing-based independent research tank, told MSN News. "There will be a societal impact."

As the value of their homes rises, more people are opting to live below. According to MSN News, which cites the state news agency Xinhua, about one-fifth of Beijing's estimated 7.7 million migrants live at their office or underground.

Beijing's housing administration, on the other hand, disputes that figure, telling Reuters that a government survey revealed only 280,000 migrants living in basements last year.

The government has raised the number of public housing units available for low-income people. According to MSN, the total floor space of public housing in Beijing climbed 20% in the first 11 months of 2013 compared to the same period in 2012.

However, as more individuals travel to the country's big cities in search of jobs and educational opportunities, the problem may worsen.

In 2012, Beijing welcomed additional 316,000 migrants, bringing the total population to 19.6 million.

Authorities in Beijing shut a manhole after local media uncovered a group of individuals living in the sewers under it, illustrating the "rat race" scenario.

For many Chinese, the dream of owning a home is still a long way off.

"Having a house right now is too difficult," Hu told MSN. "There are individuals living in every basement...there are so many of us out there."