Yang said a growing number of white-collar workers are switching from co-renting apartments to standardized apartments with better furniture provide by the agencies－another reason for the increases.

"This trend－which is a structural improvement for the rental market－will continue for a long time," he said in a report.

He also said people are generally moving into the city's downtown area, where rents are higher.

"The illegal buildings were mainly in suburban areas. People have to find new places to rent nearer the downtown area. New graduates also tend to live downtown where there are more job opportunities. High rents downtown have pulled up the average level," Yang said.

He said the supply shortage is the major cause of the rent increases, and predicted that the number of new tenants will start to fall this month, reducing the level of such rises.
No worries
Liu Ridu, a 38-year-old Beijinger who owns four apartments in the capital, has just raised the rent from 6,000 to 7,000 yuan a month for one of his flats－a 90-sq-m apartment in Jintai Road, off the Third East Ring Road in Chaoyang district.

"I know the rise this year is a bit strange, but for me, seeing that others have raised their rents, why should I refuse more money?" he said.

"I don't rent my apartments to tenants directly. People seldom do that now. We rent to agencies and pay one and a half months' rent as their fee, and then have no worries about keeping tenants. The agencies will do that for us."

Liu said rents had usually risen by about 10 percent annually in recent years. This summer, they increased by 17 percent in the residential community in Jintai Road, where this apartment is located.

A realtor at the Beijing Maitian Real Estate Agency, surnamed Wei, who asked that his full name not be disclosed, said agencies started to speculate on rents in May.