Big cities' property gets frothy amid leveraged purchase

Wang Xin was close to buying an apartment in downtown Beijing for 3.3 million yuan ($500,000), but the home owner raised the price by 20,000 yuan at the last minute.

Wang agreed to pay the extra money, but the deal fell through anyway. The home owner went with an estate agent, who promised to sell the apartment for 470,000 yuan more.

Wang tried to persuade the owner to honor the deal, but was locked out of the realtor's office. This dramatic turn of events all happened in less than half-an-hour.