China

In the US people have many ways to invest their money but in China things are different. Most savings go into local banks who in turn loan it out to local businesses. Over time different ways of investing outside the country have arisen but the government quickly clamps down. People thus resorted to real estate. For years it was much like the US in that real estate values were increasing rapidly and so more Chinese invested in more real estate. After purchasing their own home, they would get small groups of people to pool their resources and buy a second home. As long as values kept rising this strategy worked but soon the country was over built and prices began to fall. The housing boom was not only over but the market was glutted. Many of the second homes are now worth only ten cents on the dollar. The number of country people streaming into the cities has stopped and for the past 30 years the population has been on the decline meaning demand for houses is down. Older people who were depending on selling real estate to finance their retirement are now faced with poverty in their last years. Because of the demographic changes in the past 30 years there are now too many old people and too few young people so it is difficult for the workers to provide for the retirees.