A sharp decline in sales and a mild growth in prices led to a weaker advance in Shanghai's second-hand housing index, the index compiler said yesterday.
The February index that tracks prices for used apartments across the city, released by www.ehomeday.com, edged up 1.1 percent or 25 points to 2,271 last month. The monthly index rose 4.61 percent in November, 1.5 percent in December and 1.3 percent in January. "The traditional slack Spring Festival season and a looming expectation among home buyers for downward housing prices cooled the local market last month," said Chi Shengyu, an ehomeday analyst.
"However, we think it's just a normal correction and remain upbeat about its future trend as demand from end-users is still strong."
Random surveys conducted by the index compiler showed transaction volume continued to drop last month - by about 30 percent compared to January - although home prices remained high.
Second-hand home prices in the districts of Hongkou, Yangpu and Zhabei jumped 4.11 percent, 4.1 percent and 3.89 percent respectively, with Quyang and Liangcheng in Hongkou and Zhongyuan in Yangpu leading the gains.
In the meantime, the city's traditional prime areas managed to maintain a stable growth. Districts of Luwan and Changning rose 3.7 percent and 2.97 percent while Huangpu and Jing'an advanced by 2.15 percent and 1.53 percent each.
Meanwhile, the local rental index, which is also released by the Website, climbed 1.6 percent, or 18 points, to 1,155 last month, amid recovering demand from migrant workers and college students.
"Robust leasing demand will likely last through April," Chi said.
In particular, the average monthly rental for high-end apartments, usually more than 6,000 yuan for two-bedroom apartment, increased 0.9 percent, with top gainers including Xujiahui District and Xinhua Road.
Mid-end properties leased for between 2,000 yuan and 6,000 yuan per month for a two-bedroom apartment rose 1.2 percent from a month earlier, with those in Luwan, Jing'an and Minghang districts gaining the most.
And the average rental for the city's privatized public apartments inched up 0.9 percent last month, with Yangpu and Luwan as the top spots.