LAND sales dived in Shanghai in the first quarter of this year amid slack sentiment among real estate developers, a latest industry report has found.

Sales of land parcels, designated for all sorts of developments, excluding public use, totaled 6.82 billion yuan (US$1.1 billion) between January and March, a plunge of 80 percent from the same period a year earlier and a drop of 79 percent from the fourth quarter of 2011, according to data released by Soufun.com, operator of the country's largest real estate website.

By volume, about 956,000 square meters of land plots were sold across the city during the first three months, a year-on-year retreat of 74 percent and a quarter-on-quarter decrease of 61 percent, Soufun data showed.

"Land sales shrunk significantly in Shanghai during the three-month period as the government maintained its property curbs, leaving developers burdened in inventory and short in cash," said Zhang Wanyu, a Soufun analyst. "Land plots released to the local market also plunged during the same period."

The city reaped 118.3 billion yuan last year from land auctions, according to earlier government data.

On the supply side, only 18 parcels were launched for sale in the city between January and March, compared to 73 plots introduced the same period a year earlier and 82 parcels in the last quarter of 2011.

March, in particular, experienced very sluggish sentiment in the land market with only three plots being sold for 1.07 billion yuan, Soufun said.

Source:shanghaidaily.com