Abstract:

Since the market-oriented reform of the housing system, China's urban housing prices have risen rapidly, and regional differentiation intensifies. Although the Chinese government has repeatedly emphasized that "housing is for living, not for speculation" the trend of rising prices in cities has not been suppressed, and the spatial differentiation of regional urban housing prices has become highlighted. Spatial differentiation of housing prices is a comprehensive reflection of the urban development gap, or a materialized expression of the differences in urban resource allocation abilities. Taking the integrated region of the Yangtze River Delta as an example, and based on the average urban housing price data of prefecture-level cities, districts, and counties between 2008 and 2018 provided by China Housing Prices, we found that the housing prices experienced three stages, namely, "fast growth", "relatively stable", and "faster growth". When the prices grew, the gap of prices between cities, especially between districts and counties, also grew, that is, integrated development did not bring about the convergence of regional housing prices. The housing prices in core and central cities, like Shanghai, Nanjing, and Hangzhou, grew more quickly, and the gaps between Zhejiang/Southern Jiangsu and Anhui/Northern Jiangsu became more obvious. Similarly, there was a huge gap in the housing prices of different districts and counties in a city. Out of consideration for reducing data error and raising analytical accuracy, and based on clarifying the pattern of spatial differentiation of urban housing prices, this paper mainly takes district and county as analysis units, and discusses the growth of housing prices in different types of districts and counties. According to the characteristics of housing price growth, city level, and location, this paper divides the 327 districts and counties of the Yangtze River Delta into six types: urban areas of core cities, urban areas of central cities, urban areas of developed cities, urban areas of other cities, counties and cities in the core circle, and counties and cities in the peripheral regions. It also discovers that, in the process of regional integration, resources flow more quickly, and high-end elements gather towards a small number of superstar cities. This means that the integrated region presents a faster price growth, a larger gap between core-edge housing prices, and the stronger convergence of similar city clubs. On this basis, we identify the mutual feedback effect of the urban economic and social differences in the integrated region, the flow of resource elements like industry and population, and the spatial differentiation of urban housing prices. The increased difference in regional housing prices will result in the forced upgrade of industries in cities with high housing prices, the loss of low-end manufacturing posts, and the concentration of social wealth to "superstar cities". Finally, in combination with the requirement for high-quality integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta, and the judgment on the rationality of regional urban housing price differentiation, this paper proposes pertinent suggestions to the adjustment and control of urban housing prices.

Key words: housing price, spatial differentiation, Yangtze River Delta, regional integration, county