SHANGHAI'S new home market was sluggish last week as the Spring Festival, a traditional low season for property sales in China, nears.

Sales of new homes, excluding those built under the city's affordable housing program, plunged 25.8 percent from a week earlier to 290,000 square meters, Shanghai Uwin Real Estate Information Services Co said yesterday.

Average price, meanwhile, fell 12 percent to 23,087 yuan (US$3,482) per square meter, as fewer houses in the mid-to-high-class category were sold during the week.

On the supply side, only 126,000 square meters of new houses were released to the local market over the past week, a weekly drop of 61 percent and also the lowest volume since late July, according to Uwin research.