Cloud wasn't in the way. Saw eclipse like 15 minutes ago. Dimmed sky followed by a cresent sun. Blinding Lights weeknd, lol

Thanks Ocean for literal heads up!

@kp6562, anjuke is a decent tool for comparing prices of secondhand homes.

Dali:
dali.anjuke.com/market/

Lijiang:
lijiang.anjuke.com/market/

Kunming:
km.anjuke.com/market/

Shenyang:
sy.anjuke.com/market/

For the month of May, Lijiang's secondhand homes are cheapest according to anjuke data with average prices of 7,753元/m2 compared to Dali's 12.9k/m2. Shenyang is ~10k/m2. Kunming is ~13k/m2.

So I stand corrected regarding secondhand homes.

Following the price trend charts for above cities, only Lijiang secondhand home prices went up during last five months, whereas Dali prices have steadily dropped during the same five-month period.

二手房 in Lijiang seems doable for you w/ combined salaries next year after wedding. Perhaps consider taking out a bank loan if short.

@DanDare, the larger, non lake view Wanda units are 毛坯房 (unfurnished "rough housing"). The sales agent was tight lipped on tba prices slated for June. 售楼部 agent hinted a Walmart would enter the shopping center, so you may be right about doubling of price.

The high speed rail station within the 1km vicinity is one of the selling points, yet common knowledge among housing speculators looking to buy Dali's dip, thus prices may already be baked in. Nobody knows how far into the future housing prices will double given the sluggish economy in recovery mode. Tourism, hotel, and airline industries are all actively slashing prices trying to shore up consumer confidence to no noticeable avail. Tourism industries are hit particularly hard and seemingly slow to crawl back up. Bad news for tourist towns like Dali and Lijiang. IMO, conservative shoppers are not parting ways with their disposable income like they used to.

I need to correct OP. Lijiang housing prices (near old town) are relatively higher than Dali's. Historically the case, unless you're referring to specific outlying projects.

For perspective, both renowned developers Wanda and Vanke will 开盘 in early June, SE of Erhai where Dali's new high speed rail station is slated to move to (900m away from sites).

Vanke's lakeview 80m3 units will go for 14K - 18K/m3. 44-storey buildings equipped with furnished smart AI home apparatus. Wanda prices are slightly less than 14K/m3 , larger 100m3 - 200m3 floor spaces for families. Wanda's non-lake view community with shopping center is situated further east of Vanke near newly constructed government buildings and public elementary schools.

To herenow's point on the economic fallout and possible slow recovery, the pulling of breaks on China's housing market may align with OP's future plans to relocate from 东北 and buy a house in Yunnan.