A total of 133 houses in the city have been defined as taxable properties during the one-month period since Shanghai launched a trial property tax in late January, the Shanghai Local Taxation Bureau said yesterday.

Between January 28 and February 27, 1,970 applicants submitted their applications to the local tax watchdog for verification of the property tax and 456 of them have received official judgment, according to a statement posted yesterday on the bureau's website.

Of the 133 houses which are subject to a property tax, only four will be levied a standard rate of 0.6 percent. So far, most of the local properties defined as taxable are existing homes, the bureau said.

The bureau announced last week that taxable properties will be eligible for a preferential rate of 0.4 percent if their prices are either equal to or lower than 28,426 yuan (US$4,326) per square meter.