Shanghai's preowned housing market continued to report sluggish transactions last month after the city government's new round of regulatory measures drove speculators out and potential buyers sat on the sidelines.

Sale prices of the city's overall second hand houses had no evident change last month, but prices of some peripheral areas with inconvenient transport network drop. Price discounts on some new houses also caused those of second hand houses nearby to fall.

Prices of apartments in Huangpu, Luwan and Jing'an districts were stable, thanks to the market's popular perspective that it is unlikely that the prices within the Inner Ring Road will drop sharply.

The sales prices of second hand apartments in Hanghua area in Minhang District posted the biggest climb of 3.54 percent to 7,514 Yuan (US$939) a square meter last month while apartments in the Xujiahui area reported the biggest decline of 2.55 percent to 10,914 Yuan a square meter.

Transactions continued to decline from August as speculative capital has withdrawn from the market after the government's cooling measures. Uncertainty over the future direction of the housing market has also made some buyers hesitant over their buying decision.

The central government continued its efforts to curb speculation by imposing a 20 percent capital-gains tax on the sale of second-hand homes effective from August 1.

Though the city government allows sellers to pay only one to two percent tax on the entire sales price if the seller claims that he or she can't provide the original price, it's still expensive for property owners to sell their houses.

Since June, the government has already extended the period of a 5.5 percent tax on the sales of preowned houses to five years from two years.

Source:佚名