Uncertainty in the market is discouraging potential buyers

To rent or buy? It's a tricky question for Lu Yi, a 32-year-old wealth manager in Shanghai as well as for many white-collar professionals who have not yet purchased their own homes in the city.

Lu and his wife, Wang Ting, a 28-year-old primary school teacher, and their 2-year-old son are living in a two-bedroom 70-square-meter apartment in Pudong. The rental price was 4,500 yuan ($714) a month in the first six months of this year.