Buyers stay away to drag down home sales

SHANGHAI’S new home sales market edged lower in the first week of September amid a retreat in sentiment.

The area of new residential properties sold, excluding government-funded affordable housing, totaled about 169,000 square meters during the seven-day period through Sunday, Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Co said yesterday.

That marked a 36.3 percent drop from the previous week, which had set a new year-todate high.

“That was not bad for the first week of a month, which usually witnesses a retreat as real-estate developers often gear up for sales during the last few days of each month,” said Lu Wenxi, Centaline’s senior research manager.

“Nanhui in the Pudong New Area and Fengxian District remained the most popular among home buyers.”

New home transaction in Nanhui and Fengxian stood at 32,000 square meters and 23,000 square meters, respectively, a week-over-week decrease of 27.3 percent and 34.3 percent. Comparatively robust sales of upscale and luxury homes helped push up the average price to around 55,000 yuan (US$7,702) per square meter, an increase of 11 percent from a week earlier.

In particular, four of the 10 best-selling projects, including the most sought after one, cost more than 80,000 yuan per square meter.

A luxury residential project in Lujiazui, the Pudong New Area, outperformed all by selling 9,375 square meters, or 50 units, for an average price of 120,478 yuan per square meter.