Shanghai home market swoons in latest week

New home sales in Shanghai fell for the first time in four weeks, though medium to low-end properties continued to attract buyers' attention.

The total area of new residential properties sold, excluding government-funded affordable housing, dropped 15.9 percent week over week to around 54,000 square meters during the seven-day period ending Sunday, Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Co said in its regular weekly report released on Monday.

Across the city, Qingpu District remained the most sought-after area for the second straight week despite a retreat from over 8,600 square meters to 6,935 square meters. The Nanhui region of the Pudong New Area trailed most closely with seven-day transactions hitting 6,537 square meters. Jiading District finished at 6,132 square meters.

As sentiment waned, the average price of a new home recorded a double-digit slide as more medium to low-end properties were purchased over the past week. New homes sold for an average 54,616 yuan (US$7,884) per square meter, a week-over-week decline of 11.4 percent, according to Centaline data.

"Half of the 10 best-selling projects cost no more than 50,000 yuan per square meter, dragging the average price down," said Lu Wenxi, Centaline's senior researcher. "Notably, one project, or the fourth most-popular one, bears a price tag of less than 30,000 yuan per square meter."

Around the city, one development in western Qingqu sold 3,723 square meters, or 39 units, of new homes at an average price of 40,118 yuan per square meter, making it the week's bestseller. Two luxury projects, both costing over 100,000 yuan per square meter, followed immediately after unloading 15 units each, Centaline data showed.

On the supply side, the loss of momentum among real estate developers extended for an eighth consecutive week due to the COVID-19 outbreak.