May marks multi-year high for Shanghai real estate

New home sales in Shanghai soared to a 44-month high in May amid a burst of pent-up demand from buyers as the negative impact of the coronavirus outbreak subsides in China, the latest market data showed.

By area, the amount of new residential properties sold, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, jumped 72.5 percent from April to surpass 1.05 million square meters, according to a regular monthly report released on Monday by Shanghai Centaline Property Consultancy Co.

"April's abundant new supply did help boost momentum among home seekers with luxury products registering robust sales, raising therefore the monthly average price to the highest since November 2018," said Lu Wenxi, Centaline's senior research manager. "However, the strength might not extend for another month, partly due to a recent fall in new supply whilst June is the traditional low month for property sales as the annual plum rain season is approaching."

The average price of a new home rose 5.3 percent from April to 63,341 yuan (US$8,886) per square meter as a result of a shift toward high-end properties.

Across the city, a luxury development in Biyun, the Pudong New Area, outperformed all last month after selling 42,446 square meters, or 154 apartments, for an average price of 110,255 yuan per square meter. It was most immediately trailed by a China Vanke project in outlying Qingpu District, which unloaded nearly 30,000 square meters, or 252 units, for an average price of over 58,000 yuan per square meter.

By price point, half of May's 10 bestselling projects bore a price tag of over 90,000 yuan per square meter with three of them exceeding the 100,000-yuan-per-square-meter mark, Centaline data showed.

On the supply side, around 603,000 square meters of new houses covering all segments from luxury to low-end were launched into the local market last month, a drop of 36.5 percent from April.