IT seems that no matter how high housing prices in Shenzhen go, potential buyers are springing up constantly. Now even people from across the border are buying.

    Thirteen new residential properties were released onto the market during the weekend in Shenzhen, drawing thousands of purchasers to burst through the doors of the sales centers.

    Hong Kong buyers were also found among the crowd.

    Just a few days before the weekend, a Hong Kong resident was busted for carrying an excessive amount of cash without declaring it at the Huanggang Checkpoint.

    According to the Hong Kong resident, he was carrying HK$4.46 million (US$575,340) to buy an apartment in Shenzhen.

    The total cash seized by Huanggang Checkpoint has already exceeded 40 million yuan this year, according to a spokesperson at the checkpoint.

    The city’s housing prices have been soaring rapidly for the last two months, with some popular areas like Qianhai and Bao’an experiencing an increase of 30 percent in prices when compared to the third quarter of last year.

    The starting price of one property named Jiuyu in Bao’an District, which was launched during the weekend, is above 70,000 yuan (US$11,290) per square meter, largely thanks to its proximity to Qianhai, part of the Guangdong Free Trade Zone.

    “Bao’an is now considered as part of the center of the Qianhai area, it is worth spending a lot of money on houses in this area,” said a Shenzhener in a sales center on Saturday.

    A Vanke property was also released onto the market over the weekend, attracting over 3,000 people to line up for only 480 apartments. The average price of an apartment there was 55,000 yuan per square meter.

    However, only a small number of the purchasers are believed to be buying the apartments to live in, according to the newspaper.

    A staff member from the sales center estimates that at least 80 percent of the purchasers bought the property as an investment.

    (Zhang Qian)