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Sherry Sheng, a 29-year-old Shanghai policewoman, bought herself a 4,000 yuan (US$642) black fur jacket, splurging for the last time before she starts paying off the mortgage on her first home.

Sheng is part of a generation of middle class that Chinese media has dubbed “fang nu,” or housing slaves, a reference to the lifetime of work needed to pay off their debts. They’re taking on mortgages even as the government maintains property curbs to damp prices that have almost tripled since China embarked in 1998 on a drive to increase private home ownership.

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“It’s a treat for myself because I could never afford such a luxury after I start repaying my housing loans next month,” said Sheng, who paid 1.1-million yuan for the one-bedroom apartment on the city’s western outskirts and will be using about 70% of her salary to service her mortgage.

China’s growing middle class reaching for homeownership helped property prices rebound starting in the second half of last year. They rose 1% in January from December, the biggest gain in two years, according to real estate website SouFun Holdings Ltd. Home prices in Beijing and Shanghai each rose 2.3% from December.