Related News

Home » Business » Real Estate

Price of new homes hits record high last month

AVERAGE price of new homes soared to a record high in Shanghai last month amid strong sentiment as buyers snapped up mid- to high-end properties.

New homes, excluding those built for relocated residents under urban redevelopment plans, were sold for an average 24,176 yuan (US$3,652) per square meter in December, a rise of 7.6 percent from November and a growth of 21 percent from January, according to a report released yesterday by Shanghai Uwin Real Estate Information Services Co.

Transaction volume, meanwhile, jumped 47 percent from a month earlier to 1.4 million square meters, the highest in 2010, Uwin statistics showed.

"The notable rebound in both price and volume in the last month of the year has actually reflected recovering demand from investors rather than end-users," said Lu Qilin, a Uwin researcher.

"The local restriction on home purchase, coupled with anticipation of new property tax, is probably a major driving force behind robust sales of mid to high-end homes," Lu added.

More than 338,000 square meters of new homes, all bearing a price tag of above 30,000 yuan per square meter, were sold in the city last month, according to Uwin research. November's sales volume was short of 200,000 square meters.

Right after the second round of rein-in policies by the central government, Shanghai ruled in early October that one family is entitled to buy only one house, mortgages or not. But there have been growing market speculations that the trial operation of property tax might apply only to newly purchased homes when it begins some time this year.

On the supply side, new homes released to the local market totaled 1.56 million square meters last month, an increase of nearly 46 percent from November, according to Uwin statistics.



 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend