China housing slump sparks fears for economy
Six months ago, China's housing market was so red-hot that Feng Xiaowei, a sales manager at a real estate agency in the eastern city of Hangzhou, rarely took a day off.Layoffs of sales agents may not have started yet, but this option, along with closing offices, was being discussed last month in the local press.
Then lending and sales curbs imposed by the government to cool soaring housing costs started to bite and business evaporated. Now Feng and the seven salespeople he supervises spend the day playing cards.
"There are no buyers," said Feng, 24. "We take three days off a week. We go out for barbecue and play poker."
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