Housing News
- Hot streak continues for second-hand flats in Shanghai
Date: 12-Sep-2007 Sources: (Xinhua Online)
BEIJING, Sept. 11 -- The average selling price of Shanghai's used apartments continued to jump last month though transaction volume remained stable, the second-hand housing index operator in Shanghai said yesterday.
The index, released monthly by www.ehomeday.com, a major housing Website, surged 6.03 percent to 1,930 in August.
'August continued to be an obvious sellers' market as price rises were found among apartment owners due to optimism over the city's real estate market,' said Wang Yun, an ehomeday analyst.
Price increases of more than six percent were recorded in about 70 percent of the areas monitored, the Website said.
The average price for privatized public apartments in Pudong New Area continued to take the lead in terms of growth rate - increasing 7.66 percent last month - mainly benefiting from the launch of two Metro lines by the end of this year. Those apartments are usually older flats previously owned by the government or work units and sold to individuals.
Strong consumer demand based on a desire for higher living standards together with an increasing need to avoid currency depreciation on the part of investors have kept the local property market active, industry experts said.
China's inflation expanded 5.6 percent in July -- the fastest pace in more than a decade, the National Bureau of Statistics reported earlier.
Economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc predicted earlier this month that Consumer Price Index, the main gauge of inflation, might have jumped 6.2 percent in August, despite government measures designed to rein in inflation.
Meanwhile, the local rental index, which is also calculated by the Website, advanced 1.9 percent to 1,056 last month with mixed performances in different apartment segments.
The average rental for high-end apartments, which usually go for more than 6,000 yuan (about 791 U.S. dollars) a month for a two-bedroom unit, dipped 0.6 percent. Analysts said the drop appeared to be a routine correction after a significant jump in July.
Mid-range properties, which lease for between 2,000 yuan and 6,000 yuan per month for a two-bedroom apartment, rose 1.7 percent from a month earlier.
The average rent for the city's privatized public apartments jumped 2.2 percent last month, with noticeable increases found in Minghang, Putuo and Zhabei districts.
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