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Once considered Asia''s most important economic city, Shanghai had by 2003 re-emerged as a vibrant and vital metropolis. It had become the leading centre for commerce, finance and transportation in the Chinese mainland, as well as a major manufacturing centre. One of the manifestations of Shanghai''s newfound wealth was a rapidly expanding property market. Shanghai''s property market had gone through booms and busts in the 1990s, and by 2003 was in the midst of another upturn. However, by the latter portion of 2003, some analysts worried that the property market was overheating and that a ''bubble'' was potentially in the offing. As the largest group of non-mainland Chinese investors in the Shanghai property market, Hong Kong-based developers had been responsible for some of the most ambitious developments in the city. Several of these developers, including some with massive projects in progress, had begun to become wary of conditions in the Shanghai market. The questions that faced them all were how the market would evolve and how they could best position themselves for the future.