Mild comeback for existing home sales in city last month

Sales of existing homes rebounded moderately in the city last month, following a major setback in April, according to the latest market data.

Citywide, about 25,000 pre-owned homes changed hands in May, a month-over-month increase of 6 percent, Shanghai Homelink Real Estate Agency said in its regular monthly report released on Monday.

By value, existing homes worth a total of 83.8 billion yuan (US$13.1 billion) were sold, a rise of 9 percent from April.

Existing homes sold for an average of 3.29 million yuan, or 39,259 yuan per square meter, up 3 percent and down 1 percent respectively from April.

"The market exhibited some signs of stability with rather mild changes in both transaction volume and prices," said Yang Yulei, a senior analyst with Homelink. "The total inventory in the market is still stable, while home owners remain generally confident with few of them offering price cuts."

Citywide, Nanqiao in Fengxian District, Huinan in the Pudong New Area and the core area of Jiading District were once again the most sought-after locations among pre-owned home seekers, with sales of 776, 660 and 513 homes respectively, according to Homelink.

Over the first five months of 2021, about 152,000 existing homes, with a total value of 511.6 billion yuan, were sold across the city. The average price of these homes was 3.36 million yuan, or 40,706 yuan per square meter.

"Transaction volume continued to stay somewhat higher than the normal level, amid regulatory measures to curb speculation as well as continuing supply in the new housing market," said Lu Wenxi, a senior researcher at Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Co. "From the price perspective, we observed slower growth and expect that trend to extend through June."

New home sales, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, fell 19.8 percent from April to 615,000 square meters, while some 378,000 square meters of new residential properties were rolled out into the market, a month-over-month decline of 57.8 percent, according to an earlier report released by Centaline.