RESIDENTIAL developments whose units are selling for more than 30,000 yuan (US$4,448) per square meter might not be able to commence pre-sales unless city-level certificates are granted as Shanghai further tightened its control on high-end housing projects.

Previously, only district or county level approval was required, a local newspaper said yesterday, citing an "internal document."

"The city's housing market has been rising over the past month with a notable rebound in the high-end and luxury sectors," said Sky Xue, an analyst with China Real Estate Information Corp. "If such robust momentum continues, the residential market will probably be overheated again with average prices increasing and that could help explain why the government has decided to introduce the new measure at this time."

The average price of new homes, excluding those designated for relocated residents under urban redevelopment plans, rose nearly 10 percent monthly in August to 21,156 yuan per square meter, mainly due to more purchases of high-end houses, according to Shanghai Uwin Real Estate Information Services Co.

For instance, about 96,000 square meters of new homes costing more than 30,000 yuan per square meter were sold in the city last month, a jump of 110 percent from July. Of that, 146 units, or 28,077 square meters, were priced at more than 50,000 yuan per square meter, compared to 69 units, or 14,467 square meters, sold in July, Uwin data showed.

"As far as I'm informed, local approvals for pre-sale certificates for homes costing more than 30,000 yuan per square meter have been temporarily suspended at the moment," an industry source who declined to be identified told Shanghai Daily yesterday.

"Of course, real estate developers can continue to submit their applications but it may just take longer for them to receive such approvals. Very likely, new approvals won't be granted until as early as November."