When a rumor spread in June 2015 that the Beijing city government would move most of its offices—potentially 400,000 workers—to the sleepy suburb of Tongzhou, property sales there doubled within weeks. Authorities confirmed the rumor a month later and quickly moved to arrest the frenzy, limiting sales to first-time buyers and longtime residents. By October last year, activity was down from over 1,500 sales a month to 500. The next month, sales jetted higher than the summer surge as buyers found ways to skirt the restrictions. “Tongzhou, all of a sudden, became like the focus of the world,” said 29-year-old Chen Liang, who grew up in Tongzhou and blogs about life there. In May, Mr. Chen pooled money from relatives to buy a one-bedroom apartment for 2.22 million yuan ($320,700). The drama in Tongzhou […]