More than ten percent of the college students living in the university district of northern Beijing are now homeowners.

The Legal Mirror reported Tuesday that students comprise 10 to 15 percent of home buyers in the area since October, compared with no more than five percent in any area of the city during the same period last year.

Fu Yan, an assistant manager with the Golden Keys real estate agency, said college students' decision to join in the wave of home buying is a result of rapidly increasing housing prices. They choose to rely on their parents, rather than save up on their own, only to discover that housing prices have again soared out of their reach.

Seventy percent of students pay the purchase price in full, largely thanks to financial backing from their parents.

Most student homes are small-sized apartments, ranging from 50 to 70 square meters, purchased for 400,000 to 600,000 yuan (54,000 to 81,000 US dollars), according to the Golden Keys agency.

In the rush to purchase homes, many college students and their parents told reporters that the sooner they buy, the better, because they believe housing prices will continue to increase.

One postgraduate said that he didn't buy a home after finishing his bachelor's degree because his income was unable to support it, but now the prices have become even more unaffordable.

?(CRI December 19, 2007)