Shenzhen property owner sells house at huge loss, tearfully recounts years of hard work turning into nothing

Recently, the real estate market in mainland China has been continuously sluggish, with housing prices in prime locations in major cities continuing to decline. A homeowner in Shenzhen recently revealed that he bought a house in the central area of Bao’an District in Shenzhen for 8.4 million yuan in 2021, but after selling it and repaying the bank loan, he only received 70,000 yuan in the end. This property resulted in a loss of over 4 million yuan for him. Selling the house left him devastated, as years of hard work and effort seemed to have all been in vain.

On social media platforms in China, a video has been circulating showing a homeowner in Shenzhen (around his thirties) finally selling his house in the central part of the city. In the video, he holds the property deed and shares his bitter experience.

According to the homeowner, he bought the house for 8.4 million yuan in 2021 and recently sold it for 6.46 million yuan. After repaying the 6.3 million yuan bank loan, he was left with only 160,000 yuan. Additionally, he had to pay a commission of 90,000 yuan to the real estate agent, leaving him with just 70,000 yuan.

He mentioned that his house was located in the best area of the central Bao’an District in Shenzhen. At its peak, the price per square meter reached 200,000 yuan, but now it is selling for only 90,000 yuan per square meter. The down payment of 2.5 million yuan was gone, and the monthly mortgage payment was lost, resulting in a total loss of over 4 million yuan. He urged everyone to learn from his experience and advised against buying houses.

The homeowner expressed that the monthly mortgage payment of 60,000 yuan was suffocating him, as he was not able to make money, causing immense pressure. With the continued decline in property prices, if he didn’t sell the house, he felt he would soon become a debtor. This situation left him with no chance of turning things around.

The video showed the homeowner breaking down that night, tears streaming down his face as he lamented about the years of hard work. He regretted draining “six wallets” to buy the house, only to see everything crumble before him. Losing the house meant his child couldn’t continue attending a good school in the district, and his wife wanted a divorce because of this situation. “After so many years of frugal living, working hard in all conditions, all gone.”

A blogger, known for monitoring the real estate market in mainland China, stated on March 19 that he believed 2025 would be the year of the collapse of housing prices in China. This tragic situation is widespread among Chinese property buyers.

He shared that he found his own monthly mortgage payment of 1,800 yuan burdensome when he bought a house in his early years. With the economy slowing down and job hunting becoming challenging, even those employed are experiencing wage cuts, making it extremely difficult to earn money.

He further pointed out that the aforementioned homeowner wasn’t the worst case scenario, as he didn’t end up owing money to the bank. By selling the house and repaying the entire bank loan, he avoided becoming a defaulter. In mainland China, if the property value doesn’t cover the debt, selling the house without repaying the bank loan can lead to being sued for breach of contract. Therefore, the most dreaded situation is selling the house and still owing money to the bank, a common situation in China now.

A video shared by a female homeowner who defaulted in Nanjing depicted her own ordeal. She bought a house for 2.06 million yuan in 2021, with an initial payment of over 600,000 yuan and a bank loan of over 1.4 million yuan. Now, the house can only be sold for 900,000 yuan. If she sells the property for 900,000 yuan, she will still owe the bank 500,000 yuan and have to compensate the bank with another 500,000 yuan.

The female homeowner expressed deep regret over her decision to buy the house initially. If given the chance to choose again, she would definitely not buy a house three years ago. Since buying the house, she and her spouse have been under tremendous pressure. It’s a harsh lesson learned!

The blogger also mentioned that in the past, hearing about landlords facing financial ruin mainly occurred in third and fourth-tier cities or in northern cities like Hegang in the northeast, where a few tens of thousands could buy a house. Previously, people believed that in first-tier cities or economically developed regions like the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta areas, the value of houses would be maintained. This perhaps was the last belief people held. However, even property prices in first-tier cities are plummeting now. “The housing prices are collapsing for real now.”