By WANG Shuhan

Following the introduction of the "one home, one mortgage, one buyer" rules in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen, some signs of life have emerged in the real estate market. The rules vary slightly from city to city, but if a home buyer does not have an extant mortgage on another property, they are to be treated as first-time buyers.

A slight blip in property listings and new home sales in Beijing and Shanghai has been the focus of much attention. Roughly twice as many homes were sold during the first weekend of the new regime than on the previous weekend, a figure that takes scant account of how bad the previous weekend really was.

It's cause for some small celebration. Things have to improve sometime, but agents agree that the increase was down to the completion of contracts agreed on some time ago. Buyers have been waiting for the new policy and simply signed on a dotted line that had been waiting for weeks.

In Shenzhen, which already had the policy for a week, no measurable response was seen. Only some high-demand properties saw a slight increase in sales, and although there was an increase in property viewings, not much is buying.

Currently, Shenzhen prices are falling faster than in Beijing and Shanghai and buyers in Shenzhen expect prices to fall a lot further.  It remains to be seen whether a local 20-percent down-payment policy will be widely adopted.

The market in Beijing and Shanghai is assumed to be more robust.