City real estate market closes August on high note

New housing sales in Shanghai exceeded the 200,000-square-meter mark for another week as real estate developers geared up to boost performances for August.

The total area of new residential properties sold, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, rose 13.4 percent week over week to 279,000 square meters during the seven-day period ending Sunday, Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Co said in a regular report issued on Monday.

Citywide, suburban Jiading District dwarfed all with weekly sales of 42,000 square meters. It was immediately trailed by the Nanhui region of the Pudong New Area and Qingpu District, where some 36,000 square meters and 35,000 square meters of new properties were unloaded during the same period, according to Centaline data.

"A total of 10 districts/regions posted weekly transactions of more than 10,000 square meters, as strong momentum carried through the end of the month," said Lu Wenxi, Centaline's senior researcher. "Notably, two projects registered sales of more than 100 units, further evidence for robust market sentiment."

The average new home price, meanwhile, fell 6.7 percent week over week to 53,176 yuan (US$7,739) per square meter as a result of a structural shift toward medium to low-end houses.

A development in Nanhui topped all after selling 17,385 square meters of new homes, or 161 units, for an average price of around 40,000 yuan per square meter. A project in Jiading followed closely, unloading 13,004 square meters, or 146 apartments, at an average cost of 36,457 yuan per square meter.

While seven of the top-10 projects bore price tags of less than 50,000 yuan per square meter, one luxury development made its way onto the list. A Shui On Land project in downtown Hongkou District, with an average price of over 110,000 yuan per square, ranked No.5 with weekly sales of 6,027 square meters, or 33 units.

Along with robust sales, new supply also jumped as real estate developers prepared for the traditional high season of property sales, namely September and October.

About 308,000 square meters of new residential properties spanning 10 projects were released into the local market last week, an increase of 37.7 percent from the previous seven-day period, according to Centaline data.

"The majority of the new supply fell into the medium to low-end category, with one project in Jiading's Anting area introducing 55,000 square meters in one batch at an average price of 30,000 yuan per square meter. That will help boost buyers' sentiment in September," Lu said.