You can do something similar in India as well. The benefit is that you get the flat at cheaper rate, at the risk of losing all your investment. There have been many cases of the developer going bankrupt, but nothing at the scale of evergrande.

guarantees you a spot of your choosing in a building of your choosing, which might be in demand in big cities -- there is only so much space in big, tight, well-established cities.

anecdotally, we were looking at houses to buy and many of the nice, well-priced ones, had multiple bids and even price increases (e.g. throw another $10k on it). not quite a full-on bidding war, but it became clear that if you want in you get in early, and pay for the privilege's.

same idea, except the place ain't built yet.

Because it's the only way to buy new property in my location.