"Want an apartment? Then join us at midnight!"

This is only the latest gimmick used by Beijing property developers to attract potential buyers, this one hoping to lure people away from a rival project opening the same day.

With the housing market slumping, developers are making every effort to cash in. Some began to offer such things as more flexible down payments, allowing buyers to make them in six months or even two years. Usually, they are made within one or two weeks.