February new home sales plummet amid lack of new supplies

New home sales plunged in Shanghai last month as a continued absence of new supplies due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak continued to take its toll on the real estate market.

By area, the amount of new residential properties sold, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, plummeted 76.4 percent from the previous month to 115,000 square meters in February, according to a regular monthly report released on Tuesday by Shanghai Centaline Property Consultancy Co.

"The outlying Nanhui region of the Pudong New Area and western Qingpu District, cushioned by comparatively abundant inventory, outperformed other districts — particularly their downtown counterparts — which have been long plagued by limited stock," said Lu Wenxi, Centaline's senior research manager. "Compared with regular years, the market was definitely much slower in regaining its strength after the Spring Festival break."

The average price for a new home, meanwhile, rose 10.6 percent from January to 60,149 yuan (US$8,621) per square meter.

Topping last month's best-seller list were two projects costing more than 100,000 yuan per square meter.

A Shui On Land development in downtown Hongkou District sold 6,015 square meters, or 40 units in total, for an average price of 114,630 yuan per square meter, outnumbering all others across the city. The project closest by sales, which unloaded 4,989 square meters, or 37 apartments, was located in Putuo District and had a price tag of 107,540 yuan per square meter, according to Centaline data.

During February, not a single new home unit was released into the market, as the city has seen zero new supplies for seven consecutive weeks so far.