China home sales surge despite cooling measures

Shanghai

CHINA'S moves to cool rampant property prices may have had an unintended consequence - unleashing a stampede of buyers seeking to get in ahead of further restrictions.

With attempts to avert a bubble intensifying - property curbs have been rolled out in at least 21 cities and developers even banned from using words such as "exclusive" and "cheapest" in advertising - that boon to realtors' pay cheques may be about to end.