Shanghai new home sales falter again in latest week

Sentiment among new home buyers continued to withdraw in Shanghai last week, despite a rebound in new supply, with medium- to low-end properties dominating the best-selling list.

The total area of new residential properties sold, excluding government-funded affordable housing, fell 17.2 percent week over week to around 162,000 square meters during the seven-day period ending Sunday, Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Co said in a regular report issued on Monday.

"Rather weak momentum lingered for two consecutive weeks but overall volume maintained above the 150,000-square-meter level, meaning that these were still reasonable corrections," said Lu Wenxi, Centaline's senior researcher. "We expect to see a recovery soon, probably a mild one, amid improved new supply."

Citywide, remote Qingpu District led all with weekly sales of 33,000 square meters. It was trailed by Fengxian District and Jiading District, which each recorded transaction volumes of around 18,000 square meters and 16,000 square meters.

The average new home price, meanwhile, suffered a major retreat of 15.9 percent from the previous week to 50,574 yuan (US$7,663) per square meter, as none of the 10 most popular projects bore a price tag above 70,000 yuan per square meter, according to Centaline data.

A project in Qingpu became the most sought-after development during the past week after unloading 14,742 square meters, or 148 units, for an average price of 61,279 yuan per square meter.

Among the top 10 projects by sales, seven cost less than 50,000 yuan per square meter, including a project in Jinshan District with an average price of around 21,000 yuan per square meter.

On the supply side, a total of 158,000 square meters of new homes spanning five projects were released into the local market, a relatively normal amount and a major rebound from the 2,775 square meters recorded during the previous seven-day period, according to Centaline data.