Among all the gloom and doom in today’s WSJ was this upbeat article, Property Owners Feel Right at Home in China:

China’s rates of home ownership are as high as 80% in the cities, according to some estimates — topping U.S. homeownership rates of about 69%.

In the past two-and-a-half years, prices for… mid-market, mass housing… have soared 40% in Beijing and 30% in Shanghai, says Anna Kalifa, head of Beijing research at real-estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle. While there are plenty of speculators — and local regulations to curb them — around 80% of purchasers are buying for their own use. “There have been huge wealth gains. People complain about rising housing prices, but the flip side is massive wealth creation,” says Ms. Kalifa.

Massively illiquid wealth creation? Supposedly our Beijing apartment has appreciated more than 50% since we bought it in the summer of 2005, but I always remember the zen koan-like Chinese expression 有价无市: “A price but no market.” Who knows, maybe there is a market, but we have no plans to sell.