Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news

Xu Fei agreed to sell his home for 790,000 yuan (US$95,000) without hesitation. It had been priced at up to 920,000 yuan only two months ago. The only condition was that the trading must be completed before June 1. Xu was lucky.
It is hard to find a buyer nowadays, said Yan Qi, a real estate broker, adding that they have made only two deals since mid April, less than 10 percent of those made before.
After issuing a series of measures to cool down the overheated real estate market, the Chinese government has recently taken much stricter actions.
As of June 1 this year, the central government will levy a business tax on the full earnings of home sales if the owners sell the units within two years of their original purchase dates. Ordinary housing lived for two years or more will be free from business taxes while other housing lived in for two years or more will be taxed according to the price differences between the selling and the buying prices.
The policies are expected to deal a heavy blow to the domestic real estate market, said an industry analyst.
From April 1 to the present, only 259,000 square meters of new housing had been traded daily, less than one-third of the daily trades last year.
Many speculators, under great pressure, have to cash in on their properties before June 1.
Home buyers are taking a wait-and-see attitude, expecting further price reductions in the real estate market. "We believe tomorrow's home prices will be lower than today's," said a prospective home buyer in Shanghai, adding that he is quite interested in the growing supply of mid and low-end properties.