The city's soaring market prices defy all attempts at control, as analysts argue the government's efforts may be inflating it
If the crowd queueing outside it on March 2 was anything to go by, the Golden Bund Garden has certainly lived up to its name.
More than 5,000 people lined up for a day for the opportunity to enter a lottery to buy one of only 180 flats, priced at more than 3 million yuan apiece, in the residential development south of Shanghai's historic Bund district.
Thousands pushed, shoved and shouted as the developer tried to keep the throng at bay with police and a rope barrier. Many in the queue came from outside Shanghai, and some had been hired by investors to stand in the line for more than 12 hours.
While debate rages over whether Shanghai is experiencing a property bubble, such considerations were academic to those at Golden Bund Garden. The scene recalled the 1992 Shenzhen stock market riots, when police beat mobs of investors queuing to buy shares.
Official figures show that residential prices rose by nearly 16 per cent last year and more than 20 per cent in 2003. Increases in the city centre were far higher.
