Explaining inter-metropolitan variation in housing rents in China

Based on the supply and demand equilibrium market model, the paper uses the panel data model of 35 cities in China from 2003 to 2008 to explain inter-metropolitan variation in housing rents in China. The main conclusions are: (1) The housing rents are positively correlated with housing prices, but negatively correlated with housing price growth expectations; (2) The proportion of non-household population is one of the important factors for the intercity housing rents differences, but the total urban population isn´t statistically significant at the 0.10 level; (3) The coefficient estimates for both short-term income and long-term revenue are negative, however only for short-term income is statistically significant; (4) Urban economic development significantly affect the intercity housing rents differences, but the city´s livable degree is not a significant factor.