Upper-Intermediate - Housing Supply and Demand (D2228)

A: 鹏飞,房价又要涨了!
Péngfēi, fángjià yòu yào zhǎng le!
Peng Fei, housing prices have risen again!
B: 你怎么知道?
nǐ zěnme zhīdào?
How do you know?
A: 新闻都说了,成交量大大增加,供求关系也改变了,现在又是供不应求了。供不应求了嘛,价格肯定要上涨了。
xīnwén dōu shuō le, chéngjiāoliàng dàdà zēngjiā, gōngqiúguānxì yě gǎibiàn le, xiànzài yòu shì gōngbùyìngqiú le. gōngbùyìngqiú le ma, jiàgé kěndìng yào shàngzhǎng le.
All the news reports said so. The volume has increased greatly and the relationship between supply and demand has changed. Now there simply isn't enough supply to meet demand. If the supply doesn't meet demand, then prices are bound to increase.
B: 不会吧。怎么调控了半天,不见跌只见涨啊!
bùhuì ba. zěnme tiáokòng le bàntiān, bùjiàn diē zhǐ jiàn zhǎng a!
No way. How can they have been controlling the market for so long and we still don't see a fall in prices, only more increases!
A: 我早就说了,房价不会跌的,尤其是大城市。刚需多厉害啊,有多少像我们这样的人等着买房。
wǒ zǎo jiù shuō le, fángjià bùhuì diē de, yóuqí shì dàchéngshì. gāngxū duō lìhai a, yǒu duōshao xiàng wǒmen zhèyàng de rén děng zhe mǎifáng.
I've said it before. Housing prices won't fall, especially in big cities. Rigid demands are super strong. There are a number of people like us waiting to buy a home.
B: 继续观察吧。我还是相信政府,会让房价回到合理的水平。
jìxù guānchá ba. wǒ háishì xiāngxìn zhèngfǔ, huì ràng fángjià huí dào hélǐ de shuǐpíng.
Maybe we should continue watching the market. I still believe the government that they will bring housing prices back to a reasonable level.
A: 商品房是商品,遵循市场规律,价格是由供求关系决定的。现在还是卖方市场,不是我们买方市场。
shāngpǐnfáng shì shāngpǐn, zūnxún shìchǎng guīlǜ, jiàgé shì yóu gōngqiúguānxì juédìng de. xiànzài háishì màifāng shìchǎng, bùshì wǒmen mǎifāng shìchǎng.
Commodity housing is a commodity like any other, and obeys the rules of the market. It's price is determined by the relationship between supply and demand. Now it's still a sellers' market; it's not a market for us buyers.
B: 房价就是被整天想着买房的人推高的。如果大家都不买,齐心协力和政府一起挤出房价的泡沫,房价才能降下来。
fángjià jiùshì bèi zhěngtiān xiǎng zhe mǎifáng de rén tuī gāo de. rúguǒ dàjiā dōu bù mǎi, qíxīnxiélì hé zhèngfǔ yīqǐ jǐ chū fángjià de pàomò, fángjià cáinéng jiàngxialai.
Housing prices are being pushed higher by people thinking about buying houses all day long. If everyone doesn't buy them, then by working together with the government, we can deflate the bubble and housing prices can come down.
A: 你嚷嚷有什么用?谁跟你一起挤泡沫呢?只能眼睁睁看着房价大涨,赚钱速度永远也赶不上房价上涨速度。
nǐ rāngrang yǒu shénme yòng? shéi gēn nǐ yīqǐ jǐ pàomò ne? zhǐnéng yǎnzhēngzhēng kànzhe fángjià dàzhǎng, zhuànqián sùdù yǒngyuǎn yě gǎnbushàng fángjià shàngzhǎng sùdù.
What's all of your hollering going to do? Who's going to deflate the bubble with you? All we can do is look on helplessly as housing prices increase. The rate of the money we earn will never catch up to the rate that housing prices are increasing.
B: 国家还是力度不够大。应该对有好几套房子的人征收重税,让他们卖出多余的房子,等到市场上房子供过于求了,房价不降才怪。
guójiā háishì lìdù bùgòu dà. yīnggāi duì yǒu hǎojǐ tào fángzi de rén zhēngshōu zhòng shuì, ràng tāmen màichū duōyú de fángzi, děngdào shìchǎng shang fángzi gōngguòyúqiú le, fángjià bù jiàng cái guài.
The country hasn't put enough effort into doing it. People who own several homes should be taxed heavily and be made to sell their excess homes until supply surpasses demand. Then housing prices will definitely fall.
A: 那你就好好等着吧。我妈说了,今年不买房,这婚就不结了!
nà nǐ jiù hǎohāo děng zhe ba. wǒ mā shuō le, jīnnián bù mǎifáng, zhè hūn jiù bù jié le!
Then maybe you should just keep waiting. My mom said that if I don't buy a house this year, then I can't get married!

Key Vocabulary

成交量 chéngjiāoliàng transaction volume
供求关系 gōngqiúguānxi relationship between supply and demand
供不应求 gōngbùyìngqiú supply isn't enough to meet demand
上涨 shàngzhǎng to increase
调控 tiáokòng to control
刚需 gāngxū rigid demand
合理 hélǐ reasonable
商品房 shāngpǐnfáng housing
遵循 zūnxún to abide by
规律 guīlǜ rules
卖方市场 màifāng shìchǎng sellers' market
买方市场 mǎifāng shìchǎng buyers' market
齐心协力 qíxīnxiélì to work together to achieve something
挤出……泡沫 jǐ chū.......pàomò to deflate... a bubble
嚷嚷 rāngrang to shout, complain about
眼睁睁 yǎnzhēngzhēng before ones eyes, in the blink of an eye
赶不上 gǎnbushàng to be unable to catch
力度 lìdù level of support, will
征收 zhēngshōu to collect
供过于求 gōngguòyúqiú supply surpasses demand

Supplementary Vocabulary

房产市场 fángchǎnshìchǎng real estate market
及物动词 jíwùdòngcí transitive verb
不及物动词 bùjíwù dòngcí intransitive verb
供应 gōngyìng supply
需求 xūqiú demand
调节 tiáojié to adjust
控制 kòngzhì to control, regulate
刚性需求 gāngxìngxūqiú fixed demand
炒房 chǎofáng real estate speculation
强度 qiángdù strength, intensity
平衡 pínghéng balance, equilibrium

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