Rising property prices in China's major cities have scared off many young people and the situation is only becoming worse as rent in these cities is becoming unaffordable.

中国大城市房价的上涨已经吓跑了许多年轻人，而当这些城市的房租也变得难以负担的时候，这种情况只能变得更糟。

Core cities have more job opportunities than third or fourth tier cities. However, the rent prices are often unaffordable. Young people are forced to pay these unaffordable rent prices if they want to stay in core cities.

相比起第三或第四线城市，核心城市有更多的就业机会。然而，当地的房租价格往往令人负担不起。如果年轻人想留在核心城市，那么他们就要被迫支付昂贵的租金。

Statistics for rent in 42 major cities show that Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen – cities in the first tier – take the lead in housing rent nationwide. They are closely followed by Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Xiamen and Sanya.

国内42个主要城市的房租统计数据显示，北京、上海和深圳三大一线城市的房屋租金在全国遥遥领先，广州、杭州、厦门和三亚紧随其后。

The three metropolitans¹ also lead the nation in rent price hikes, all seeing an increase of more than 10% from a year ago.

在涨幅方面，北上深房租同比都上涨超过10%，领涨全国。

The average monthly rent in Beijing has already hit 71.24 yuan (US$10.86) per square meter per month, as data shows. In other words, to rent a 100-square meter house in Beijing, one should pay more than 7,000 yuan (US$1,067). The price is naturally much higher in regions closer to the city center.

根据数据显示，北京的平均月租金已经达到每平方米71.24元（折合10.86美元）。换言之，要想在北京租一个100平米的房子，那么你每月就需要支付超过7000元（折合1067美元）的房租。而在接近城市中心的地区，价格自然也要高得多。

Shijiazhuang, Hohhot, Wuxi, Urumqi and Hefei sit at the bottom of the 42-city ranking. The average monthly rent in Shijiazhuang and Hohhot are both below RMB20 per sq m.

在这份42城房租排行榜中，石家庄、呼和浩特、无锡、乌鲁木齐和合肥排名垫底。其中，石家庄和呼和浩特的月平均租金都低于20元/平方米。

The rent-price ratio is international criteria² in evaluating a city's property market, and a ratio between 1:200 and 1:100 would signal a healthy market. The ratio also predicts the payback period of property investment.

租金房价比是衡量一个城市的房地产市场的国际标准。处于1:200到1:100之间的比率是房地产市场健康的信号。该比率还可以预测房地产投资的投资回报期。

The excessively low rent-price ratio affects the development of the rental³ market, said Zhang Dawei, chief market analyst⁴ of Centaline, a real estate⁵ company. He said that compared to people in developed countries, Chinese are more prone⁶ to invest in real estate, regarding it as a deposit of wealth fending⁷ off inflation. Therefore, housing prices in China are higher compared with the income level.

一家名为中原地产的房地产公司的首席市场分析师张大伟表示，过低的租金房价比会影响租赁市场的发展。他表示，相比于发达国家的人，中国人更倾向于投资房地产，把它作为抵御通货膨胀的存款财富。因此，中国的房价与收入水平相比要高出许多。