Twenty Five Years For a House
北京住宅平均售价是人均年收入的25倍
Beijing 's traffic may now be the worst in the world, but natives have long known the capital's streets aren't as hard to navigate as its housing.
北京的交通状况可能是世界上最糟糕的，但北京人早就知道，和北京的房价比起来，北京的交通实在不算什么。
A study recently released by Beijing University of Technology and the Social Science Academic Press put a number on the frustration: 25.
一个人要工作多久才能在北京买得起一套房？北京工业大学和社科院文献出版社最近公布的研究报告中给出了这样一个令人沮丧的数字：25。
The average Beijing home sells at an extraordinary 25 times the average annual wage.
北京住宅的平均售价是人均年收入的25 倍，真让人惊讶。
The international level is much lower. An average apartment in Berlin, for example, only costs residents three times the annual average wage, according to a People's Daily article.
而国际上其他国家的房价要低得多。《人民日报》一篇文章中举例说，在柏林，一套公寓的平均售价相当于一个普通人工作三年的工资。
Chicago has an average annual wage of about $70,000, and homes that sell for a median price of roughly $290,000. That's just over 4 to 1.
芝加哥人均年收入约为70,000 美元，房屋售价中值约为290,000 美元，比例仅约为4 比1。
Housing troubles are not new to fast-growing Beijing, but there was a great deal of hope that the government's moves in April to cool down the property market would provide some relief.
住房问题对于发展迅速的北京早已不是什么新鲜事了，现在人们寄希望于政府出台的平抑房价的措施能够见效。
According to the Beijing Bureau of Statistics, 98% of Beijingers said in May that housing prices were high.
根据北京统计局的数据，5 月份98%的北京人都表示房价太高了，
The other 2%, apparently, could not be reached at their homes for comment.
其余2%显然是因家中无人接听电话而没有就此事发表评论。
June brought the first signs of a reversal for urban housing nationwide, when prices finally began to fall, dipping 0.1%.
6 月全国楼市终于出现了松动迹象，当月房价终于开始下跌，环比降0.1%，
The hope is that the cooling's full effects will appear in the months ahead.
人们希望在接下来的几个月中，政府的平抑措施能够全面见效。
But for Beijing residents, it's one thing after another. Just as housing prices ease, rental prices jump.
但是对于北京的居民来说，一波未平一波又起。房价刚刚有所松动，租金又开始上涨了。
The average rental price is now 2,950 yuan ($440), a 2.1% increase month-over-month, according to China National Television.
现在北京的平均租金是2950 元，据中国国家广播电台称，这一价格每月上涨2.1%。
