Sentiment among new home buyers in Shanghai rebounds

Sentiment among new home buyers continued to rebound in Shanghai last week amid improved new supply, the latest market data showed.

The area of new residential properties sold, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, rose 53.1 percent to around 122,000 square meters during the seven days to Sunday, Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Co said in a report released on Monday.

"The remote Jiading District, as well as the Pudong New Area, remained the city's two best-performing areas with weekly sales volume hitting 34,000 square meters and 21,000 square meters, respectively, during the seven-day session," Lu Wenxi, Centaline's senior research manager said. "As momentum among real estate developers also picked up steadily, the market would likely register ever-growing transaction in the upcoming weeks."

Citywide, new homes sold for an average price of 57,779 yuan (US$8,643) per square meter, a week-over-week decrease of 8.3 percent, according to Centaline data.

Of the 10 best-selling projects, five cost less than 60,000 yuan per square meter on average, including the two ranking first and second on the list.

Outperforming all was a residential development in Jiading which sold 16,809 square meters, or 136 units, for an average price of 40,832 yuan per square meter. It was most closely trailed by a project in the same district, where 6,808 square meters, or 62 units, of new homes were unloaded for less than 30,000 yuan per square meter on average, according to Centaline data.

On the supply side, four projects were released onto the market last week, adding a total of about 104,000 square meters of new homes into the city's inventory, a week-over-week surge of 70.7 percent and a clear sign for growing confidence in the market by real estate developers, Centaline said.