But the auctions were generally short affairs often because real estate speculators were illegally fixing the bidding process.

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But investor skittishness about the real estate market is slipping away, and speculators are seeing value in distressed markets.

FORBES

Chinese property developers (and speculators) were among the biggest beneficiaries, as real-estate prices revived strongly in the fourth quarter, to the point where Jing sees danger signs ahead.

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With property prices starting to soar, the government last month stepped up its controls of the real estate market, vowing to levy a 20 per cent capital gains tax to thwart speculators.

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Speculators who abandoned the stock market after the tech stock crash in the early 2000s raced into residential real estate.

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