High costs make owning home an impossibility

Zhu also could follow the example of several friends by asking his folks to move to the outer part of the city while he and his wife move to his parents' apartment. But Zhu doesn't like this solution, either. It would cause too much trouble for his parents.

"My mom still goes to the university for the elderly these days. She would spend almost four hours every day going to and fro if she lived on the outskirts of the city," he said.

Therefore, call it independence or filial piety, but Zhu refuses to ask his parents for help.

It is a trend that began when he pursued his university degree in Singapore, where he received a full scholarship that covered all his expenses.

Now running his own small company specializing in graphic art, website and brand image design, Zhu hopes to be able to afford that down payment soon.

It's an opportunity he missed out on in Singapore in 2004, when housing prices were relatively low, which he now regrets.

"I was not sure whether to stay in Singapore or to come back at that time," Zhu said.

"But the pressure gets worse every year. And life cannot be planned. My only wish now is not to get married in haste. Otherwise, I will have to pay a mortgage for about 30 years, by which time I will start to worry about the down payment on my son's new apartment," he said.

Related reading

Home prices rise further in Sept

China urban land prices up for six quarters