Beijing's policies targeting speculation in the property market may be cooling prices, but ordinary Chinese - many of whom just want a home to raise a family - say they are the real victims.
Protests by homebuyers have erupted in several cities across the mainland, but they have taken on a special poignancy in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province. For much of the past decade, property prices there have been among the most buoyant in the nation.
Hundreds of people who bought unfinished flats through pre-sale agreements have been staging protests against developers. They say they have been forced to take 'justified action to protect their own interests'.
Most have already lost 30 per cent of their investment since Beijing's curbs led the developers to offer discounts on unsold flats amid a liquidity squeeze.
A 30 per cent price fall on a 100 square metre home in Shanghai's suburban area or in Hangzhou translates to more than 300,000 yuan (HK$366,500), equal to at least five years' pay on an average wage.
The protesters have even been given a label: fangnao - disgruntled homebuyers who use violence to demand compensation from developers for falling home prices.
Police are wary of such disturbances amid worries the anger could spread across the nation. Indeed, Shanghai, Nanjing and Ningbo have been rocked by fangnao, with protesters storming developers' sales offices, causing windows to be smashed and doors broken.
