The cycle of the real estate sector highly depends on the finance in the short term, the land policy in the medium term and the population in the long term. After Hong Kong was returned to China, the land became public, but the right to use the land could be transferred freely after leasing. Adding to this the environmental policy created a shortage in land supply. However, the demand for private housing was expanding with the growing populations. Together with the easing financial policy from 2008, the living in HK started to become more and more expensive. In 2016, about 50% of residents lived in their private houses and nearly 31% of residents lived in public houses. However, it takes a long time (average of 5.3 years) to queue for public housing. As a result, the demand for a private house is increasing as the development of the economy. On the other hand, the rent for private housing increased correspondingly. One special feature of Hong Kong is that the real estate sector accounts for an extremely high proportion in the HK economy. Real estate is the most important source of government income in HK. It contributed to more than 32% of financial income in 2016. Real estate and its related industries make up 20%-25% of the HK GDP since 2006. The special economic structure widens the gap between the rich and the poor, resulting in the difficulty for lower-income residents to purchase private houses.