Evergrande: Anxious Chinese home buyers reel from crisis
In 2021, just months before the Chinese property giant Evergrande showed the first signs of crisis, Guo Tiernan (whose name has been changed on request) and her husband bought an apartment off-plan for their only child from the top-selling developer. The couple, nearing their 60s, had scrimped to afford the $30,000 (£24,500) down payment on the yet-to-be-built flat. They bit the bullet in pledging to use 75% of their income to pay for the mortgage."We wanted to help our son, to give him a place to start out on once he graduates from college," Mrs Guo told the BBC earlier this month. But just months after their purchase, Evergrande's facade began to crack. In September 2021, Evergrande failed to repay more than $100 million to offshore lenders. At that time it was estimated that the firm had more than 1.5 million unfinished homes. The default brought to light a real estate crisis in China which is still spiralling two years later. The bankrupt firm has spent the past 18 m...