90s vs Today: Which Money Has More Buying Power?

More important than the headline is this: In past decades, home prices also saw sharp spikes and steep drops (a 65% decline over seven years), which means the housing market has never been immune to downturns—contrary to the myth that prices only go up.

Based on average income, after the 1993 surge, a year’s salary could buy 0.8 square meters of housing; after the 2000 crash, it could buy 6 square meters (roughly 3 square meters in tier-1 cities).

So purchasing power hasn’t dropped that much, mainly because rapid economic growth and abundant material goods have masked many underlying issues.

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