Agency lists tiny hallway for sale: 1.5 million yuan

Why would anyone want to pay 1.5 million yuan ($228,000) for a hallway in Beijing?

Lianjia real estate company recently listed a shabby 10-square-meter hallway on its website, touting its location in the school district of Beijing First Experimental Primary School of Qianmen Branch, a key primary school.

The real estate agent described it as "a hallway".

"You will not able to build a room to stay, but you can enroll in the First Experimental Primary School of Qianmen Branch."

The online record showed that 54 customers had seen the "house".

Beijing Morning Post reported on the high-priced hallway. After that, it was apparently no longer for sale on the website.

The housing agent in the same school district, Chen Guanglei, said he had no information about the listing.

He said that the cheapest house that would allow a student to enroll at the school is for sale at 3.8 million yuan, he said.

It is not the first time that high housing prices in school districts have caught the attention of media and the public.

In March, China Central Television reported that a 13-square-meter apartment was listed for 4.8 million yuan.

Chu Zhaohui, senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, said the high housing prices reflect the unfair allocation of education resources.

"The insanely high housing prices in certain school districts reflect the unfair allocation of educational resources in China's big cities. Parents' desire to get the best education for their children forces them to buy a house near good schools so they can get them admitted there," he said.

Pang Jun, 31, had just returned from a house-hunting trip and bought an apartment without good schools nearby.

"I wanted to buy an apartment in a good school district. But then I found that with only 2 million yuan it is almost impossible," he said, adding that the agent showed him some apartments in good school districts that were within his budget, but "those apartments are not in good condition".

"I may be able to save some money in the future and buy a house in the school district. But now I am helpless," Pang said.