Ironies abound in housing market

It's already reported that China's urban housing market is starting to pick up. A rise in business and in prices is obvious in the first-tier cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen - compared with the previous months.

Housing sales in second-tier cities, mainly those at provincial capital level, can only be described as not as bad as before.

This happens when the stern price control policies, which the central government imposed four years ago, are only partially lifted. Many components of the control mechanism remain intact.