Prosperity or Inequality: Deconstructing the Myth of Home Ownership in Hong Kong.

Abstract In Hong Kong, the demand for home ownership over the past decade has been phenomenal. Before the economic crisis and the property market slump in 1997/98, house prices in Hong Kong were among the highest in the world. A 'home ownership ethos' was cultivated, in which most people believed that the promotion of home ownership brought prosperity to the economy and benefited individual owners. This paper argues that the existing 'pro-ownership and anti-rental' housing policy does not benefit the economy or many of the lower and middle-income homeowners. On the contrary, it undermines the stability of the economy and widens social inequalities along various dimensions such as class and gender, and between the younger and older generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]