Comment by seanmcdirmid

Many of them aren't second homes. The ones in the ghost cities sure, but Evergrande has (had?) more legit projects that were designed as actual housing. In any case, given that the mainland stock market is pretty much known as a sham, real estate has been the only investment option for much of the middle class. Investors "eating" their losses basically means huge widespread social upheaval in China. Imagine everyone being equivalent to their 401k going belly up, that wouldn't be pretty.