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10% rise in housing price in 4 hours By Zhang Jiawei (chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2010-04-14 11:37

A Hangzhou resident who decided to buy an apartment worth 1.5 million yuan ($220,000) from an agent was told four hours later the price had increased by 10 percent, the chinanews.com.cn reported Wednesday.

"Buying an apartment is a lifetime thing; I can't decide in a hurry and should talk with my family first," the woman surnamed Lou told staff from the housing agent who was urging her to buy the second hand house at 1.5 million yuan.

But four hours later, Lou got another call from the housing agent telling her she had to pay 1.65 million yuan if she wanted to buy the apartment she had viewed, and that other people were queuing to buy the property.

Lou was not alone in suffering this situation. Another woman surnamed Liu paid a deposit to a housing agent to buy a second hand apartment for her son's wedding in Hangzhou, but later she was told the owner would rather pay back her deposit and an additional 50,000 yuan in default payment than sell the apartment. Liu is now seeking legal advice.

"The housing market is decided by market rules and we are not convenient to comment this matter," the chinanews.com.cn cited a person in charge of Hangzhou's housing authority as saying.