The changing real estate supply and investment patterns in China: An institutional perspective on affordable housing

China's housing reform from 1998 onwards represents an institutional transformation of the real estate industry to a buoyant commercialized market. The institutional transformations generated by the policy reforms have led to substantial changes in the mechanism of real estate investment and supply. Through an extensive literature review and data collection, this paper depicts an investigation of the changing systems of real estate investment and supply in China after the fundamental housing allocation reform. The discussion focuses on the social housing provision systems, the real estate financing systems of developers and house owners, and the changing roles of real estate investment and supply. Due to the shrinkage of direct investment from state budgetary funds, the low affordability of the general public and other difficulties, a multi-layer housing provision system which the government designed earlier is expected to be less operative, and would lead to a conspicuous market disorder with an insufficient supply of housing to accommodate less- affordable families. The marketization process sees the reduced roles of state intervention and the growing effects of market-forces. Eventually, the profit-oriented commercial developers have taken a more proactive role than the government in housing investment and supply, but in a somewhat mis-matched manner.