I've adopted the Chinese habit of asking how much things cost. If I heard correctly the apartment, built last year, was 90,000 rmb. Goodness, when converting the currency I couldn't buy a decent car for that back in the UK!

Prpoerty prices in China are way too high, and have been so for since the easrly 90's.
I suspect that the apartment you mentioned was one built solely for your Chinese public school fellow staff members. They can buy such apartments at big discounts, but you can't.
About 6 months ago, Chinese property prices reached a low. But they have been rising again recently due to China's economic recovery.
To put things in perspective, we can say that a Chinese taxi driver earns around 12000 RMB annually, while a Chinese public school teacher with some years of teaching experience earns at least 25000 RMB/year. But a flat of 100 square metres will cost around 200,000 RMB in a small city, and at least 400,000 RMB in a provincial capital.Far too dear!
Compare the situation in the UK: A waitress may earn 10,000 GBP/year, whereas a secondary school teacher with some years of teaching experience earns at least 25,000 GBP a year. But a house might cost only 50,000 GBP, which represents 5 years of salary for a waitress and 2 years' salary for an experinced teacher.