離婚率上漲的罪魁禍首竟是高房價大綱

Amid rising real estate prices across China, Chinese couples are scrambling to get divorced to buy new houses, in an effort to circumvent government restrictions that require residents to pay more in down payment if they want to purchase a second house.

當此全國房地產價格高漲之際，中國夫婦們卻在忙於離婚買新房。這是因爲政府要求居民購買第二套房需要支付更多的首付，而先離婚再買房則可以規避這種限制措施。

According to the Shanghai government's current policy, homebuyers must put up to 50 percent down for their second house and 70 percent for a third one. A first-time homebuyer only needs to put down 30 percent.

按照上海市政府目前的政策，購房者必須爲第二套房支付50%的首付，第三套房的首付比例更是高達70%。而第一次購房的市民則只需要支付30%的首付即可。

Of 70 Chinese cities surveyed in August, 64 reported a month-on-month increase in new home prices, the National Bureau of Statistics said on its official website last Monday.

國家統計局上週一在其官網上表示，在八月份對中國70座城市進行的一場調查中，據報道有64座城市房價每月都在上漲。

As price hikes extended from top-tier cities to medium-sized cities, three cities - Suzhou, Xiamen and Hangzhou - resumed home purchase restrictions, while several others raised minimum deposits.

由於房價上漲勢頭從一線城市蔓延到了中等城市，所以蘇州、廈門和杭州這三座城市恢復了對購房的限制，而其他一些城市則提高了最低存款的限制。

"Nowadays, families are using 'fake divorces' as a tool to skirt the home purchase restrictions for different reasons, such as avoiding the home-purchase tax or buying a house in a school district," Lin Nan, a Beijing-based lawyer from Liang Gao Law Firm which specializes in marriage cases, told the Global Times.

林楠是北京兩高律師事務所的一名律師，專攻婚姻案件，他向《環球時報》透露稱：“當下，夫妻們正在通過'假離婚'來規避購房限制，其原因多種多樣，有的是爲了避免支付購房稅、有的則是想要買學區房。”

Currently, housing prices in big cities are registering an abnormal increase, which has actually created a big economic bubble, said Hu Xingdou, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology.

北京理工大學教授胡星斗表示，目前大城市房價正在不正常地增長，事實上已經造成了一個巨大的經濟泡沫。

"Due to a slowdown in the real economy, many business owners in real economy sectors have dived into real estate, while others have followed them due to the lack of better investment options," Hu said.

胡星斗教授說道：“由於實體經濟放緩，許多實體經濟部門企業主都已經轉戰房地產市場，而他人由於缺少更好的投資機會，也選擇了跟隨。”

According to a survey from Longview Economics in the US, the average housing price in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province is the second highest in the world. Beijing and Shanghai are also among the most expensive, the China Youth Daily reported.

據美國Longview Economics公司的一份調查顯示，深圳是全球平均房價第二高的城市。據《中國青年報》的報道，北京和上海的房價也在全球最貴之列。

Society has a tendency to worship money, and some people use all means to accumulate wealth, even at the cost of their families, Hu said, adding that the phenomenon reflects the high living cost in China and lack of satisfactory social welfare provisions.

胡星斗教授表示，中國社會現在有一種拜金的傾向，有些人不擇手段地積累財富，甚至以犧牲自己的家庭爲代價，這個現象表明中國的生活成本非常之高，但是卻不能提供令人滿意的社會福利。

While the courts are unable to distinguish between a real divorce and a fake one, the policy to curb housing prices wasn't intended to lead to such an outcome. Hu said the purchase restrictions could have little effect on preventing the real estate market from overheating.

法院無法辨別一對夫妻到底是真離婚還是假離婚，遏制房價的政策也沒料到會產生這種結果。胡星斗表示，在防止房地產市場過熱的這個問題上，購房限制措施可能收效甚微。

The restrictions should take into account the reasonable needs for home purchases, and media, as well as legal authorities, should speak more about the risks involved in "fake divorces".

這些限制措施應該考慮到購房的合理需要，而媒體和法律部門則應該多多宣傳“假離婚”的風險。