In China they have rules that aggressively favor owner-occupiers.

Eg if you want to buy a second property you need to pay 60% cash up front and can only borrow 40%, and for a third or subsequent property you can’t get a mortgage and need to pay cash.

This means being a speculator in existing housing stock isn’t attractive since it locks up so much capital - and so speculators have instead invested in new builds which is why there has been a bubble in construction, but at least it means for the existing housing stock is largely an owner-occupier market.

There are also special funds specifically for saving for a house, kind of similar to a 401k, that you can put your money into as a savings account and your employer has to match your contributions.