NEW home sales plunged to the lowest in more than five years in Shanghai last month, with the downtown area suffering the largest fall in volume.
Sales of new houses, excluding those built under the city's affordable programs, tumbled 83 percent from January to 178,000 square meters, the lowest since 2006, Shanghai Uwin Real Estate Information Services Co said yesterday.
The average price fell 10 percent to 20,625 yuan (US$3,139) per square meter amid sluggish sales of high-end projects, Uwin data showed.
"The latest home-purchase ban, among all other tightening measures, dealt a heavy blow to the local housing market particularly the high-end sector," said Zhao Baogeng, a researcher at Uwin. "However, home prices seemed to remain rather firm so far as the majority of real estate developers are still unwilling to yield."
The transaction volume of new homes within the city's Inner Ring Road dived 91 percent in February from a month earlier. Citywide, only 57 units of new homes - each costing more than 40,000 yuan per square meter - were sold last month, the fewest since March 2009, according to Uwin data.
On the supply side, new houses totaling 400,000 square meters were released to the local market last month, the lowest in a year, as developers adopted a cautious approach until a clearer sign of recovery appears.
"It has been one month since the latest tightening policies were issued and the market is also stepping out of its traditional slack season," said Song Huiyong, research director at Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Ltd, operator of the city's largest estate chain by transaction value. "We can probably anticipate a 'small' boom in March amid gradually recovering demand from buyers, particularly those who purchase homes for their own use."
About 53 new residential developments, including apartments and villas, are due to be released in the local market this month, according to real estate website, Soufun.com.
The average housing price rose 9.99 percent last year in 70 major Chinese cities, said the National Bureau of Statistics. The average price of new homes rose 13.67 percent in these cities last year.