Housing the population is one of the most important and sensitive issues in every economy.

Whether in developed countries or in developing countries, this issue can trigger major welfare disaster and social unrest for the government.

Ironically, while China had overcome the unprecedented challenge of COVID-19 effectively by acting promptly and decisively, it had been severely criticized by the Western media for resorting to "draconian measures" in fighting the pandemic.

But, is the fight against a deadly pandemic a walk in the park, or a serious life and death battle that requires the full mobilization and commitment of the whole nation and the whole population?

The property sector had been a star performer in China's success story. But China became overbuilt in 2020 and the government instituted cooling measures.

The COVID pandemic had not made it any easier for the Chinese property developers amid the 2021 government cooling measures on real estate development.

COVID had exacerbated the decline of the property market in China due to its severe effects on livelihoods, labour force, and incomes across the country.

This was truly a double whammy on the China property glut.

China's property glut and the overbuilt housing crisis had certainly been a serious setback for China's economy. It is only now that it is starting a slow recovery after years of policy adjustments by the government.

But how is this compared to the situation in other countries around the world?

Ironically, it turned out that almost all countries have instead a housing shortage crisis and a problem of serious property price escalation.

It is clear that there is a housing crisis of severe housing shortage worldwide, especially in the shortage of affordable housing.

In that context, China's property glut may be an outlier, and may prove to be a blessing in disguise in the long term.