Have home, won't sell

Potential buyers consult with a real estate agent in Dongcheng District, Beijing, on March 1, 2016. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Despite booming real estate prices in Beijing, Wang Ke, a 32-year-old bank clerk, recently bought a 98-square-meter flat off the Third Ring Road.

"Demand (for homes) has been strong," said Wang, who is three months pregnant with her first baby. "My parents will help in looking after the newborn baby since my husband and I both have to work, and the current 60-sq-m apartment with only one bedroom and one living room is too small for the five of us."

Wang said the couple has been considering buying a more spacious flat since last year, but waited in the hope that the policy environment will turn homebuyer-friendly and prices will ease.

That was not to be. Instead, the average price of new homes in Beijing, like in other first-tier cities, kept rising on robust demand. Finally, the couple gave up on its hope and settled for the Third Ring Road flat.

"It's crazy. The price of a 100-sq-me flat has risen by some 300,000 yuan ($48,800) within two weeks after the Lunar New Year," said Wang. "However, with the baby on the way, we just couldn't wait any longer and had to go ahead and buy as we've to finish home decoration and move in before November."

Even if young buyers, flush with easy home loans and liberal financial help from parents, are willing to buy, they may not succeed as many home owners are holding on to their properties in the wake of signs of a recovery in China's residential property market, Wang told China Daily.

"We almost sealed a deal with a home owner last month for a 108-sq-m apartment off in the eastern Fourth Ring Road, but he suddenly withdrew two days before the arranged meeting," sand Wang.

"We even paid a small fee toward advance deposit to the real estate agency, but the home owner violated the agreement."

Wang said she has heard of many such cases as home owners, sensing rising demand and anticipating their property value to appreciate, are adopting ungentlemanly methods.

"Our real estate agent said some residential developers have already increased their project prices, which is making home owners even more reluctant to sell now."

That's a far cry from the scene in in 2014 when demand was weak amid a supply glut. However, recent stimulus in the form of cuts in deed tax and business tax brought about a turnaround in the property market in first-tier cities.