Real estate agencies have been sprouting up all over Shanghai as the property market booms. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

Zhang Xue, who has rented homes since she graduated from Shanghai International Studies University seven years ago, prefers to rent a home close to where she works, cutting her travel time.

"On my salary I can afford to buy a small apartment in suburban Jiading district that costs about 1 million yuan. But the sacrifice is just too much. I would have to spend at least three hours a day commuting.

"Apart from that, buying the ideal home is an unreachable goal. When I earned 5,000 yuan a month the price of homes was already too high. Now even though I earn 20,000 yuan a month, the home price is still just as prohibitive."