In the Chinese city of Tianjin, which is close to Beijing, a group of roughly 1,500 homebuyers claim to have paid for apartments approximately eight years ago, but they have yet to see them or move into them.
The apartment building in Tianjin sold its units before they were finished, as is typical in China. While it was promised that they would be finished by 2019, most of them are still unfinished, according to five homeowners who spoke with CNBC over the phone and asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. The purchasers are a mixed group that made lower upfront payments as well as full payment up front. Their worries are but one illustration of the more general issues that still exist in some areas of China’s real estate market.
Some customers claimed that after making initial attempts to get their money back or to learn more about the properties they had purchased, police had paid them a visit, sometimes late at night.
According to a CNBC translation, one customer expressed in Mandarin, “I feel like I’ve been tricked this entire time.”
The buyer stated, “My only request is that I can return the house and get my money back.” “It won’t make me feel better even if I win the house.”
Some purchasers claimed they had purchased the apartments so their kids could go to the local school or so their parents could retire. While awaiting the new house for eight years, some buyers revealed that one of their parents had passed away, and others said that their child had grown up and enrolled in a different school.
