I’ve read asianautica’s posts over time and his perspective is a very much in line with that of Asian immigrants’ that I know.

They have very strong aversion to paying rent. And owning is much more “well-regarded” by relatives. Therefore people will make sacrifices such as living with relatives to save-up for a downpayment. I would not be surprised if asianautica’s relatives are “pressuring” him to buy.

A modest family will not mind paying a high mortgage to own and they will split the expenses amount family members. I’ve met people who live two adults per bedroom, every bedroom.

I used to work in manufacturing where there were lots of Asian employees and it was hard to explain the concept of utility where buy/rent is just the financing method by which one acquires shelter.

I believe that Asians place a lot more value on the concept of ownership and are willing to sacrifice just so they can say they own. That’s very good but can lead one to overpay when the market is high(but that overpayment is ok when split up among many adults).