At home in the suburbs

Lu Su, 32, an architect at a company in the west of Beijing, was disappointed when friends told him that he had bought his home at the wrong time and, consequently, had paid far too much.

Lu paid 21,000 yuan ($3,360) per square meter for an apartment in the outlying district of Tongzhou in 2013. Compared with the large price rises in the downtown area of the city, the price of Lu's apartment has only risen by 2,000 yuan per square meter.

"Because of the trend of falling prices, some friends were concerned that the price may fall below that which I paid for the apartment, but I'm not too concerned. I bought the place for the feeling of owning my own home. I was fed up with renting, and, given my income, we won't think about selling the apartment for at least five years," he said.