The apartments Da Hua is building now are strikingly more attractive than those it built even a few years ago. They're the ones faced with tiny blue and white bathroom-style tiles that are now streaked with rust from iron window frames. The 1999 units are painted in tasteful beige with larger, aluminum-framed windows. The latest units have roomy balconies. Since last year, the city government also has required developers to space buildings further apart and plant more trees and grass.
Individual buyers can be very picky.
Of course, not everyone can afford to be picky. As with China's other market reforms, housing privatization is opening a gap between the haves and have nots. The government needs to do a better job on economy housing, he says, and to reduce taxes that have stunted second-hand sales and rentals among individuals. Now we need to perfect the reforms. Review Publishing Company Limited, Hong Kong.