Real estate agencies have been sprouting up all over Shanghai as the property market booms.  [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

For Sun Yongshi, a student at the Communication University of China in Beijing, the decision to rent instead of buy comes down to environmental concerns.

"Because of Beijing's poor air I would prefer to buy a home in Zhejiang province or my hometown in Jiangsu as an investment," says Sun, a part-time trainee in a bank who rents an apartment.

"But the place where I want to work is Beijing."

Cheng Sun, a Shanghai native now renting a 130 sq m apartment for which he pays 15,000 yuan a month, says rented homes afford flexibility for people like him who travel a lot for work.

"I will probably eventually be traveling between many Chinese cities and even overseas, so renting a home makes more sense. As long as the lease is long enough, I do not see any difference between renting a home and owning one."