The skyrocketing housing prices are preventing the poor from owning their own home. And according to one economist, the government doesn't need to help them buy one.

Xia Yeliang.

Xia Yueliang, a professor of economics at Peking University said Sunday: "The government is not obliged or liable to help low- and middle-income Chinese families own their own house, such as affordable houses because there is low-rent housing as well."

However, these groups are not happy with these options. They want to be able to buy affordable housing because they want to own property.

Xia, dubbed "an economist in pursuit of equality and freedom", likened home ownership to gourmet food, saying the government will prevent the poor from starving to death but is not responsible to feed them well.

Housing prices have become a 'big headache' for the government to ease despite repeated measures to cool the property market down.

Last month, eight ministries, including the ministries of construction and land and resources ramped up their efforts to regulate the real estate market, to eradicate irregularities during the housing construction and sales.

There are concerns as to whether the government's measures can slow down real estate prices, which experts warn of a possible overheating.

Media reports said the reasons for the increased housing prices are due to fast growth in fixed assets investment, money supply, and loans.

The feverishly high prices show no sign of cooling down with current real estate prices soaring to over 8,000 yuan (US$1,036) per square meter on average from some 6,000 yuan in 2004, a jump of nearly 50 percent in four years.

But the average monthly wage of a Beijing resident is about 3,000 yuan.

As the 2008 Olympic Games draws near, many people speculate that the housing prices will stabilize after the international sporting event as they believe the focus on the market in Beijing will be likely to dissipate.

But experts have a different prediction. A report filed by the Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS) said because of the fast-growing demands for property in Beijing, the price of housing prices will keep increasing well after the 2008 Olympics.