A newly built residential community in Shanghai. [File photo]

Divorce filings are increasing at several marriage registration offices in Shanghai as families are trying to avoid tougher home purchasing regulations since the city rolled out its strictest ever property control measures last month, Beijing Youth Daily reported.

Over two weeks after the new policy took effect, Shanghai's runaway property market seems to have been cooling down with home prices stabilizing and public panic receding.

Under the new policy to tame soaring property prices, local families with one property have to pay a minimum 50 percent down payment for a second home, with the down payment raised to 70 percent if the house is either above 140 square meters or priced above 4.5 million yuan (US$692,000) located within the inner ring.

This has particularly affected local families with multiple houses in hopes of buying more.

Real estate agents in the city's Lujiazui financial districts advised a married woman with two houses to "divorce" her husband in order to buy another one. After the couple's proposed breakup, their two existing houses could be registered under the woman's "ex-husband," allowing her to buy a new one as her first home, with a lower tax and down payment. They can then remarry after the new property is registered under her name.

Couples are advised to come to the office one hour earlier to avoid a long queue, said a staff member from a local marriage registration office in the city's Pudong New Area.

"We couldn't tell whether they are 'fake divorcing' or not, but I'm sure some of them are," said a staff member from the office in Shanghai's Xuhui District who also has seen an increase in divorce applications since the new home restriction. "I guess that couples who are laughing and talking during the process don't come here seriously."

Other cities like Tianjin and Langfang, both near China's capital city Beijing, are also reported to be witnessing a soaring divorce rate amid a home-buying frenzy.

Divorce applications have risen 30 to 40 percent since March, a staff member who handles marriage registration in Tianjin's Binhai New Area revealed.

Some offices are even setting a quota for applications they handle every day in face of overwhelming fake divorce cases.

Gu Jinshan, the director of the Shanghai Housing and Urban-Rural Development Management Committee, warned of the risks of such schemes, as "fake divorces" may turn out to be real which put one's family and wealth at stake.

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