Feeling poorer: Property slump hurting Chinese consumers, clouding recovery

While property prices in big centres like Shanghai have been stable, those in smaller cities have fallen for 13 consecutive months. - Bloomberg

BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters): Liu Baoxiang, who runs a mahjong parlour in a city on China's rust belt, no longer splurges on extravagant fashion items after seeing the two flats he owns lose roughly a third of their value over the past two years.

"I was previously considered wealthy in the area," said Liu, who also owns some commercial property in the northeastern city of Liaoyuan.