China's real estate time bomb ticking

New policy to keep rocketing housing prices at bay amid fears of bubble

BEIJING - How much should two chicken pancakes cost? For Zhao Rui, a 28-year-old company executive in Beijing, they cost him 400,000 yuan when he missed the chance to buy a home at a lower price during his lunchtime.

In early March, Zhao settled on a two-bedroom apartment in Beijing's Tongzhou district outside the city's eastern Fifth Ring Road. Except for the 18,000 yuan per square meter price, he was quite satisfied with it. So, before finally handing over the cash, Zhao and his girlfriend decided to have lunch. But when they returned to the sales office and were ready to pay, they were told that the apartments had sold out and they would have to wait another three weeks for the next building to become available.

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