Shanghai home sales notch first gains in three weeks

New home sales in Shanghai rose moderately last week, the first increase in three weeks despite zero new supply, the latest market data showed.

The total area of new residential properties sold, excluding government-funded affordable housing, increased 3.1 percent week over week to around 167,000 square meters during the seven-day period ending Sunday, Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Co said in a regular report issued on Monday.

The average cost of new homes, meanwhile, edged up 1.9 percent to 51,573 yuan (US$7,850) per square meter, as medium- to low-end properties remained the most popular among home buyers.

"The residential housing market started to cool off as 2020 is coming to an end," said Lu Wenxi, Centaline's senior researcher. "A plunge in new supply may leave a negative impact on sales over the last few days of the month, which usually register a spike in transactions, while the absence of high-end and luxury projects in the best-selling list for two consecutive weeks also indicated weak sentiment in the market."

Citywide, Minhang District dwarfed all with weekly sales of some 33,000 square meters. It was followed by Qingpu District where about 22,000 square meters of new houses were unloaded.

A project in Minhang's Pujiang Town became the most sought-after development during the past week after selling 20,909 square meters, or 201 units, at an average price of 63,514 yuan per square meter. It was also the most expensive project in the top-10 list.

Among top projects by sales, seven cost less than 50,000 yuan per square meter, including a project in Jinshan District with an average price of just over 21,000 yuan per square meter, according to Centaline data.