THE FORECLOSURE and courtroom public sale of 87 flats within the southern metropolis of Changsha final month underlines most of the issues with China’s property sector. The houses had been owned by one lady, flouting the controls that Changsha and different cities have on the variety of housing models city dwellers can purchase. The truth that one individual was in a position to purchase so many highlights the backroom dealings that happen steadily. Prior to now, such speculative exercise helped drive up costs and make China’s huge cities a few of the world’s most unaffordable. The state of affairs, which is underneath investigation, additionally exhibits how wealthy Chinese language usually have had few funding choices apart from flats. And even these investments now appear shoddy: a lot of the houses being auctioned in Changsha have gone unsold.