Pre-owned home market weakens in February

Sales of pre-occupied homes plunged in Shanghai last month as the coronavirus disease outbreak kept buyers on the sidelines.

Citywide, about 5,000 pre-owned homes changed hands in February, a drop of 60 percent from January. On a year-on-year basis, the number dived 53 percent, Shanghai Homelink Real Estate Agency Co said in a recent report.

By value, existing homes worth a total of 14.8 billion yuan (US$2.1 billion) were sold, a month-over-month decrease of 59 percent and a year-over-year retreat of 46 percent.

By area, Sanlin in the Pudong New Area, Nanqiao in Fengxian District and Zhoukang in Pudong were the three most sought-after areas among home seekers, with sales of 137, 118 and 104 existing homes respectively. Pujiang in Minhang District, which was the most popular in January, fell to the fourth spot with monthly transaction of 103 units, compared with 275 units registered a month earlier.

These pre-occupied homes cost an average 3.24 million yuan per unit, or 40,938 yuan per square meter, a moderate increase of 4 percent and 5 percent respectively from January, Homelink data showed.

For the first two months of 2020, around 16,000 units of existing homes, valued at some 50.6 billion yuan in total, were sold across the city, down 39 percent and 34 percent, respectively, from the same period a year ago. The average price of these homes stood at 3.17 million yuan per unit, or 39,457 yuan per square meter, up 7 percent and 5 percent year on year.