Runaway property prices may not hurt economic growth at the moment, but that does not mean the country can afford a delayed response.

The longer policymakers avoid arresting the surge, the more frothy the property sector will become. Property bubbles have caused havoc in rich and poor countries alike.

The latest statistics show that China's housing prices are still far from reaching a plateau. This situation is a crucial precondition for the country to deflate a bubble without seriously damaging long-term growth potential.