In the latest, Q4 2016, Global Residential Cities Index from Knight Frank, house prices across 150 cities worldwide increased by 6.6% on average in 2016. Chinese cities occupy the index’s top nine rankings for annual house price growth, the Index found, but 2017 is shaping up to look very different, says Knight Frank.

Nanjing leads the rankings with average prices ending last year 41.1% higher. Chinese cities would have occupied the entire top ten had New Zealand’s Wellington not nudged Shenzhen out of tenth spot.

However, Knight Frank reports: ‘We expect next quarter’s results to look significantly different. The index covers the period to the end of 2016 but already in March (2017) we have seen a new round of lending curbs and purchase restrictions across China’s main cities which has brought price growth in several cities to an abrupt halt.’

For example, on the 24th of March China’s central bank announced tightened housing mortgage rules to curb speculative purchases in Beijing’s property market and control credit risks. Such is the insatiable appetite for property in China’s fourth largest city - which has a metropolitan population of 21.5m - couples have been ‘faking’ divorces so that they can buy an extra property without having to put down a larger deposit.