I was recently able to travel to China for the first time and was fascinated to learn about their housing market. Apparently the Chinese government doesn't have a property tax.
For men in China, owning a home is already incredibly important. It's practically a requirement for getting married, to the point where a woman's family would almost certainly disapprove of a marriage if the man doesn't own a home (which, keep in mind, would be called an apartment in the US). So that coupled with China's huge population means there's already a major demand for owning a home.
China is also experiencing incredible economic growth. Local governments are pouring money into "economic development areas" where you can find modern shopping malls, skyscrapers for businesses, and lots and lots and lots of (what we would call) apartment buildings.
And this isn't just happening in Beijing or Shanghai. There are "tier 3" cities in China with populations the size of LA and NY where you see clusters of dozens and dozens of 40-50 story apartment buildings shooting up.
I was told that the value of homes in these economic development areas -- even in "tier 3" cities -- is going up by an absolute minimum of 10-15%/yr (that's being conservative). So if you have money in China, of course you invest in housing. There's no property tax.
When I see these clusters of apartment buildings popping up all over the country, I really wonder how many people are actually living in them, and how many are just getting turned around year after year for a profit. Chinese people have an unfathomable amount of trust in their government (from a westerner's perspective), so when I asked some friends about this, their response was basically, the government will take care of it. Regardless, very interesting place!