China tops list of home-owning millennials, study finds

There are more home-owning millennials in China than in eight other major developed and developing countries, a recent study has found.

Seventy percent of Chinese millennials are already home-owners, leading a list of nine countries including the U.S., Canada, France, Malaysia, the UK and the UAE, according to an HSBC study, which also reported that 91 percent of Chinese surveyed who do not possess a property have plans to buy one in the next five years.

Millennials, or Generation Y, are currently aged between 20 and 35, having been born between 1980s and mid-1990s ? although some extend the period till early 2000s.

A total of 9,000 people from nine countries worldwide were surveyed, and on average, 40 percent of them own a property and 83 percent intend to buy one with the next five-year period.

Eighty-five percent of Chinese participants surveyed are urban dwellers, 14 percent are suburban respondents and one percent came from rural areas.

Young people around the world are facing immense difficulties to purchase houses as prices have steadily increased ? even more so in China, where the central government and local authorities have been rolling out restrictive measures to cool down a heating property market and contain skyrocketing prices.

The survey said 36 percent of millennials who bought their own homes turned to the "Bank of Mum and Dad" as a source of funding.

Seeking assistance from parents is not uncommon in China, where property ownership is a pre-requisite for marriage in the eyes of many.

One's chances of winning the consent of the in-laws to-be is believed to increase if they are homeowners and parents of bachelors chip in as much as 35 percent of a property's deposit.

Mexican millennials rank second after China with 46 percent of them owning houses, followed by France at 41 percent.

Malaysia, the U.S., Canada and the UK have similar proportion ? just over 30 percent, while Australia and the UAE have the lowest rates at 28 percent and 26 percent respectively.

Surging property prices with comparatively slower growth in salaries have made it difficult for millennials to buy a house, with 34 percent of respondents saying they are holding back because house prices are not affordable.