The northern Chinese province of Hebei has been experiencing a property boom after unveiling a plan for greater integration with neighboring Beijing and Tianjin. Baoding is a city of 11 million people about 140 kilometers south of Beijing.

The city hopes to host central government agencies, universities, research facilities and hospitals from the overcrowded capital. That's according to a local plan released March 26th. The central government has yet to approve the proposal, but that hasn't stopped the housing market from heating up.

Some new home prices have soared by as much as a third in just days. A number of economists are urging caution, however, and say that such irrational investments in real estate could only create bubbles.