The few days before March 25, when new property policies were implemented, were hectic periods for real estate companies like Lianjia. Gao Erqiang / China Daily

Wang Huiyao and her husband were so eager to buy a home in Shanghai that they liquidated all their investments and paid to be given priority in the queue for a new property that was to be launched on March 26.

After all their meticulous planning and preparations, it seemed as if they were finally going to be able to own a home in the city after many years of searching for one. However, on March 24, property transaction centers in Shanghai were swarmed with thousands of home-buyers looking to seal property deals, and little did Wang know that this was the prelude to the end of her home-buying dream.

"We were not sure what the commotion was all about. Did it mean that the property market was overheated? Were people just overreacting? It was hard to tell, so we decided to go to work as usual and buy our apartment the next day as planned," said Wang, who only learned of the frenzy on the morning of Mar 25.

Before noon on Mar 25, Wang and her husband were left dumbstruck after learning about the introduction of new policies to the property market. The new regulations stipulate that non-household -registered residents now need to pay tax for at least five consecutive years before they can buy a property in the city. The previous policy only required people to pay taxes for two years. Wang and her husband, who moved to Shanghai in 2012, were now ineligible to buy a new home.

Wang has received calls from several agents who have tried to persuade her to buy an apartment in Kunshan or Suzhou of neighboring Jiangsu province, suggesting the couple can commute between home and work by taking the metro lines. High-speed trains take one to two hours to reach Kunshan and Suzhou.

"But the idea of living in another city is not that attractive to us, and the prices of properties there have surged a lot recently as well," said Wang.