1.Residents' Income

 Income of urban and rural resident s improved continuously.In 2008, the disposable income per capita for urban residents was 24,104 yuan, up by 11.1 percent over the previous year, a real growth rate of 5.9 percent if eliminating the price factor. The net income per capita for rural residents in Hangzhou was 10,692 yuan, up by 12.0 percent, or a real growth rate of 6.8 percent if eliminating the price factor. By the end of the year, the balances of urban and rural residents’ savings totaled 347.659 billion yuan, up by 31.8 percent over the end of the previous year.

2.Resident Expenditure

Consumption expenditure of urban and rural residents increased continuously. In 2008, the living expenditure per capita for urban houses was 16,719 yuan, up by 12.2 percent over the previous year and the Engel's Coeffi cient was 38.3 percent.The living expenditure per capita for rural houses was 8,446 yuan, up by 11.6 percent and the Engel's Coeffi cient was 35.9 percent.

3.Housing Condition

The living condition and living circumstance for the urban and rural residents improved continuously. In 2008, the fl oor space of the buildings beginning to construct reached 9.1491 million square meters, up by 3.1 percent over the previous year. Of the total, the fl oor space of economic and suitable houses beginning to construction was 1.035 million square meters. The number of low-rent arranged houses reached 2,628.The dangerous and old houses started 584,000 square meters in the urban area. By the end of the year, the usable floor space per capita for the urban residents was 29.83 square meters and that for the rural residents was 69.74 square meters respectively.