Abstract: It is of vital importance to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the comparative effects of China’s regional real estate markets by making use of the two indexes: the price-to-rent ratio and the housing price-to-income ratio. The results of this study indicate that China’s high housing price would force all the housing rental markets to increase rents. The deviated rent from the housing price makes the housing rental market difficult to support the real estate market effectively. At the same time, the price-to-income ratio varies in different cities, and there exists a paradox about the price-to-income ratio among the groups with different income levels, which becomes increasingly obvious. Therefore, the government should control the speed of the rising price to cut off the channel of high housing price spreading to the second-hand housing rental markets in densely populated areas, perfect the three level housing mold (which is protected and supported by government and provided by market) and the income distribution mechanism, foster reasonable housing consumption concept among the citizens, and cultivate a healthy housing rental market.

Key words: price-to-rent ratio; housing price-to-income ratio; real estate market; regional difference