Are Cars Considered Real Estate?
1 Answers
Cars are classified as movable property. Like ships and airplanes, cars are high-speed transportation vehicles, not static property in the personal ownership sense, and they involve public safety, distinguishing them from other movable properties. However, since transactions such as transfers require registration and procedures similar to those for real estate, cars are sometimes treated as real estate in certain contexts. Movable property refers to objects that can be moved without impairing their economic utility or value, typically including money and goods. Real estate, in contrast, refers to objects that cannot be moved or would lose their economic utility and value if moved, such as land and fixed structures like buildings, bridges, and trees. The distinction between movable and immovable property is based on whether an object can be moved without damaging its value or utility. Movable property can be relocated without such harm, while immovable property cannot. China implements a registration management system for cars and ships, where unregistered transactions cannot be enforced against third parties. This system resembles the registration process for real estate, but cars and ships are not classified as 'real estate.' In civil law, 'objects' refer to material entities existing outside the human body that meet social needs and can be controlled or dominated by people. Objects can be categorized in various ways, including movable vs. immovable, freely transferable vs. restricted, specific vs. generic, principal vs. accessory, divisible vs. indivisible, original vs. derivative, and owned vs. unowned.
