Is it more cost-effective to rent or buy a house in first-tier cities?

I am not familiar with other first-tier cities, so I will only talk about Beijing as a reference. In my opinion, whether you choose to rent or buy a house depends on how much money you have in your pocket. If you have money, do it when it's time to do so; if you don't have money, just rent a house and don't affect your living standard.

First of all, let me report the changes in housing prices in Beijing in the past 20 years, taking the housing prices around our home as an example.

Before 2000, a new house cost 2,000-3,000 yuan/square meter, which was considered a very good house. Renting a house cost a few hundred yuan per month, maybe 600-800 yuan. As for second-hand houses, I haven’t paid attention to them. There was no concept of second-hand houses at that time, or they were a bit small. I can’t remember clearly. The reason why I remember the price of this new house is because my parents discussed whether to buy a larger house to improve their living conditions. .

In 2005, there was a new project with a slogan of 6,000 yuan/square meter. At that time, I thought I was going crazy. Can anyone buy such an expensive house? The rent will probably rise to 1,000-1,500 yuan.

For the 2008 Olympic Games, a new set of properties was launched, starting at 20,000 yuan/square meter. I like this property very much. The design is simple and bright, with bay windows and balconies, and a garden-style community. Neighbors in the surrounding area jokingly called this property a "joke market", as if the offer was a joke. The rent is about 1,800 to 2,300 yuan.

In 2009, house prices fell, and the "joke plate" was quoted at 18,000 yuan/square meter. The neighbors were still telling jokes:

"Have you heard? The price of such and such plate has been reduced! Every time The square meter has dropped by 2,000 yuan!”

“What then?”

“Well, it doesn’t matter to us, because we can’t buy it for 20,000 yuan or 18,000 yuan. Starting.”

The rent remains at around 2,400.

In 2012, the "joke price" rose to 40,000 yuan/square meter (now we are talking about second-hand housing prices), and the rent rose to 2,700 to 3,200. Whenever neighbors heard about someone who had bought a "joke plate" in the past, they would say "You've made it!" After living in the house for three years, his assets doubled. A house bought for 2 million can be sold for 4 million.

In 2014, I wanted to buy a "joke plate". I was optimistic about the floor, the area, and everything else was negotiated. The price was less than 50 square meters for 2.65 million. Because I wanted to lower the price to 2.6 million, I had a two-day tug-of-war with the seller, and finally another buyer settled the deal for 2.7 million. I was dejected and had no interest in looking at the house. The rent is about 3,400 yuan.

This spring I saw on the "joke plate" that the same house type was quoted at 7 million. So far, I have no connection with the "joke plate". The rent has risen to over 4,500.

Finally, I want to say that no matter whether housing prices rise or fall, if it is a real need, you should buy a house if you have money, because when you have money and don’t buy it, you may not be able to afford it even if you want to.

But if you don’t have enough money, is it worth taking on heavy debt, eating steamed buns and pickles every day, and squeezing the bus all year round to buy a house? I don't think it's worth it. Would you rather eat rice bran and vegetables and live in a small house of your own, or would you rather live in a rented house with four vegetables and one soup? I choose the latter. Life is short. You should never wrong yourself at any time. Living every day of your life well is the greatest value of life.