SHANGHAI, Mar 23 -- THE confrontation between a holdout homeowner in Chongqing Municipality against a district court and a developer will continue to hold Chinese people's attention as the court has said it will not pull down the two-story building today.

The Jiuchengpo District Court said that it won't enact its forcible house demolition verdict against the isolated house owned by Yang Wu and Wu Ping, even though the deadline for moving out passed yesterday, the Oriental Morning Post reported today.

It may take days to get an approval through legal procedures to carry out the demolition, the newspaper quoted the court as saying.

The case, which drew backlash on Chinese media and the Internet, is still being studied, the court added, so it's impossible to demolish the house today.

Yang Wu, the husband and owner, has climbed onto the house with the help of two iron tubes, as the developer has dug a vast area around the house by 10 meters. He also raised a Chinese national flag atop of the two-storey home that displayed a banner which says: "Legitimate rights to private properties/assets shall not be infringed upon," an apparent citation of China's new property law, which was passed on March 16 and vowed to protect private ownership.

The couple said they had the right not to agree with the developer's terms and refuse to move out.

Since 2005, Nanlong Real Estate Co, the housing developer of the couple's neighborhood, has been offering residents' compensation to sell their homes so the company can carry out a new commercial project in the area. According to the offer, the couple can get 3.5 million yuan (US$454,000) for their 219-square-meter home if they agree to leave.

However, the couple refused and instead, asked for a new house of the same size and area as their old one, which the developer turned down, the report said.

By September 14, 2006, the other residents in the neighborhood had all moved out. Nevertheless, Yang and his family insisted on staying in the house, though the water and electricity supply had been cut for two years.

The couple's house, located in the urban area of Jiulongpo District, was said to be worth 2.4 million yuan in 2005. However, with the booming real estate industry these years, even the price of an underground garage in that area has jumped to 17,000 yuan-per-square-meter.

After several futile meetings with the couple in February 2005, the developer filed a forcible demolishment request to the local housing supervising authority. In January 16 of this year, the bureau applied to the district court for a pre-verdict forcible demolishment according to the law after a hearing on January 8, which was not agreed upon.

The pre-verdict demolishment allows the bureau to knock down the house before the court gives a verdict on the case.

"I'm planning to appeal to Chongqing's higher court to assert my rights," Wu Pin, the 49-year-old wife said, accusing the previous hearing of being "unfair" and just "a formality and a show".

"According to the law, pre-verdict forcible demolishment is not allowed in the country," Wu said. "But that's exactly what the court verdict is trying to do."

She also denied rumors on the Internet that the family was well-connected and has a strong social background, saying that they're just business people and their only "weapon is the law."

"My family is exhausted because of this case," Wu said. "But we'll hold on and hope more people can stand up for their rights as we have."

According to a poll taken by 83,175 people by 2pm today on Sina.com, 86.39 percent said they are for the couples' decision to stay in their home, while 9.1 percent are against it.

The Jiuchengpo District court said it would hold a news briefing sometime today to explain the case to the public, the report said.