Pan Shiyi, China's most flamboyant property tycoon, made waves recently when he compared China's teetering property market to the ill-fated and infamous RMS Titanic that sank in the freezing North Atlantic in 1912.

According to news reports, what Pan meant to say was that China's property market is heading full speed ahead toward an iceberg, which, in this case, means a looming property bubble threatening to sink it much like an iceberg sank the Titanic.

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Pan is the Chairman of Soho China Ltd, the largest prime office real estate developer in the country.

"I'm not optimistic about the housing market," Pan was quoted by China Business News. "I think China's real estate is the Titanic and will soon hit the front of the iceberg."

"After hitting the iceberg, the risks will not only be in the real estate sector. The bigger risk will be in the financial sector," he said.

Pan said the three reasons for weakness in China's property market are the country's registration system; its real estate tax and a shrinking land supply.

China's property market is weakening to say the least, a victim of massive oversupply. In the first four months of the year, home sales dropped 9.9% in value terms year-on-year. New construction starts this year plummeted by 25% on-year.

Demand is on a nationwide slump and is being further weakened by banks tightening mortgage lending. The huge property oversupply has crimped sales as buyers await what they see as inevitable price cuts.

Pan said serious problems lie with financial products like the popular wealth management products or WMPs and with entrusted loans that are key financing vehicles for the property sector given their higher interest rates compared to those offered by commercial banks.

"When housing prices fall 20% to 30%, these problems will all be exposed," he believes.

Soho has apparently been heeding its Chairman's advice by taking its money out of the local property market.