Shanghai's new housing sales market headed further south last week despite a surge in new supply.
The area of new residential properties sold, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, fell 18.7 percent to around 117,000 square meters in the seven days to Sunday, losing strength for the second week, Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Co said in its regular Monday report.
Around the city, western Qingpu District led all with transaction volume hitting some 25,000 square meters. The former Nanhui area, Fengxian and Songjiang districts followed with weekly sales all staying above the 10,000-square-meter barrier.
"Sentiment among home buyers continued to soften across the city with medium to low-end projects registering comparatively good performances," said Lu Wenxi, Centaline's senior research manager. "However, a rather unexpected jump in supply might indicate that more real estate developers are feeling pressure to unload their inventory."
Citywide, about 310,000 square meters of new residential properties spanning 10 projects were released into the local market, a dramatic week-over-week rise of 330.8 percent, according to Centaline data.
The average cost of a new home dropped 4.5 percent from a week earlier to 52,487 yuan (US$7,613) per square meter, Centaline data showed.
In last week's top 10 list by area, eight were cheaper than 50,000 yuan per square meter with one asking for less than 20,000 yuan per square meter. One development in Qingpu outperformed all by selling 10,429 square meters, or 119 apartments, for an average price of 39,795 yuan per square meter. One project in downtown Huangpu District, with a price tag of above 100,000 yuan per square meter, also made into the list after unloading 1,831 square meters, or 6 units, according to Centaline data.
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