AN infant in the crib was accidentally pepper-sprayed by a security guard Saturday during a dispute between two couples, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported yesterday.

    The security guard was attempting to break up a fight between a couple living in a recently bought apartment and the former owners who want to renege on the home-sale contract.

    While the parents of the infant were at the hospital, the other couple removed their belongings from the apartment and changed the locks.

    The child was not permanently injured.

    Zeng Yongke and his wife recently moved in the apartment in dispute, when the previous owners, also husband and wife, Xie Guoyi and Zhang Minghui, broke in and demanded they leave.

    Zeng had already paid for the apartment and signed a home-sale contract, but Zhang has refused to officially transfer the ownership of the apartment because home prices have shot up since the contract was inked.

    The value of the apartment Zeng bought from Zhang rose from 3.5 million yuan (US$564,200) to about 4.5 million yuan, according to Zhang.

    Zhang, the original owner of the apartment, never transferred ownership to Zeng despite handing over the keys and signing a home-sale contract at the end of March.

    Zeng sold his old apartment April 6, but followed the contract he signed and transferred ownership to the buyer. The value of Zeng’s old apartment has jumped by almost 1 million yuan.

    Zeng has filed a lawsuit against Zhang in court. Zhang will need to pay 20 percent of the total apartment price if the court rules that she has broken the contract.

    Sellers reneging on contracts has become common in Shenzhen in recent months as property prices have shot up so fast sellers find they can make more money by breaching a contract — perhaps paying a small fine — and then selling the property at a new, higher market price.

    In the face of a slowing economy, the government has introduced policies meant to encourage growth in the property market March 30. A frenzy of selling and buying has pushed Shenzhen into the lead of highest property price increases in China.

    A protest was held recently in Nanshan District by homebuyers supporting better enforcement of sales contracts.

    In a separate incident, one property owner even hired “bodyguards” to help him snatch his signed contract from the office of a real estate agency in Nanshan when he had second thoughts about the sale. (Zhang Qian)