using more concrete in two years than the United States did during the entire 20th century. The property bubble peaked in 2009. By 2012, as large established population centers were saturated, developers were building new communities in rural areas in order to keep up the momentum. Since the best way to market countryside housing was "internationalisation" by depicting them as global commerce metropolises, real estate developers enlisted "rent-a-foreigner" companies to stage "dazzling spectacles where their foreign employees are presented as famous entertainers, important businessmen, top-20 models, diplomats, architects". Borenstein observed that these "erotic fantasies" [fueled a] speculative frenzy" which went hand-in-hand with overbuilding in order to maintain the facade of confidence, discouraging negative financial reports which showed that demand was well overstated or even not justified. By 2014 developers were facing a growing backlash, from rural farmers whose land was expropriated without proper compensation, and from buyers upset by the poor quality, or at other units in the same development being sold at steep discounts. This bubble ended up creating ghost cities that were abandoned incomplete or finished but largely unoccupied. Most of these empty developments are found in minor cities where state-run industries and mines had closed down, and new housing projects were seen by local officials as a means of diversification as well as cashing in on the property bubble. The property bubble has resulted in poor quality design and construction, ending up in buildings often unfinished or unoccupied. Developers and contractors often cut corners to pocket money, while there is often a shortage of skilled labor, and projects often have short time constraints. Austin Williams wrote that this trend was consistent with capitalism where "Its early stages usually involve building shit, making a profit, and moving on to the next deal – even if the building falls down soon after". In addition, long-lasting buildings are less profitable than those buildings shoddily built and rebuilt during the same time span; indeed repeated demolition and construction counts toward GDP economic growth. City statistics Shanghai Real estate prices increased by over 150% between 2003 and 2010 Beijing and Shanghai Sales of residential buildings rose by 32.6% in the first 10 months of 2013, according to NBSC. In Shanghai, sales volume of new homes sharply increased by around 26% year-over-year to Q3 2013, according to Colliers International. But residential sales in Beijing were up by only 3.2% in the first 10