THE sales and supply of new residential properties in Shanghai declined last week, snapping a five-week rally that began from the end of the Spring Festival holiday, according to market data released yesterday.
The buying of new homes, excluding government-funded affordable housing, fell 25.8 percent on a weekly basis to 149,400 square meters over seven days ended Sunday, Shanghai Deovolente Realty Co said.
They were sold for 20,687 yuan (US$3,273) per square meter, up 1 percent from a week earlier. Meanwhile, a total of 46,500 square meters of new homes were released to the local market, a plunge of 72.6 percent from the previous week.
"In general, the local housing market is still on track to gradually recover despite the drop recorded last week," said Lu Qilin, a researcher at Deovolente. "Whether developers agree to offer significant cuts is the critical factor."
So far this year, an average of 86,000 square meters of new homes were sold weekly in the city, Deovolente data showed.
Between March 1 and Sunday, new home transactions in Shanghai totaled 256,000 square meters, a surge of 158.6 percent from same period a month earlier, according to data released yesterday by Century 21 China Real Estate.
New home sales soared to a seven-month high of more than 200,000 square meters during the week before last.