Shanghai housing market breaks records

A series of supportive measures effective during the conventional home transaction peak season are expected to work together to facilitate the consolidation of Shanghai's housing market, said experts.

On Sunday, 1,615 units of pre-owned homes were sold in Shanghai, a single-day record for the second half of this year, according to the Shanghai Real Estate Trading Center.

This was also the third time this year that single-day transactions in Shanghai's pre-owned home market exceeded 1,600 units, following 1,664 transactions on May 10 and 1,632 on April 11, said Lu Wenxi, an analyst at Centaline Shanghai.

"Most of the homebuying demand in the secondary market comes from buyers with rigid housing needs and those seeking better living conditions. Both segments have remained stable," Lu said.

The new policies are expected to provide further support for the market's recovery during the traditional peak season, known in China as "Golden September and Silver October", said Lu.

The National Day holiday serves as an important indicator of the effectiveness of supportive policies and the strength of homebuying demand in "Silver October".

During the week-long holiday, 1,191 units of pre-owned homes changed hands across Shanghai's pre-owned home market, a year-on-year increase of 66 percent. The transaction value amounted to 3.59 billion yuan ($536.34 million), according to news portal ThePaper.cn, citing data from the Shanghai municipal bureau of housing management.

The resilience of Shanghai's pre-owned home market is more evident in monthly transaction figures, which have remained above 23,000 units for seven consecutive months, with the March figure exceeding 31,000 units.

Zhang Bo, head of the Beijing-based 58 Anjuke Research Institute, attributed the steady recovery of the housing market to the series of measures introduced.

On Aug 20, an eight-measure package was announced to better meet people's housing needs and demand for better living conditions, with policies including trade-in subsidies for homebuyers, as well as adjustments to the housing provident fund and personal home mortgage policies. The policies, including a subsidy of 200 million yuan for new purchases, are expected to work together with existing measures to address diverse housing needs and further stabilize the local housing market.

On Sept 28, Shanghai announced new measures to better coordinate pre-sale management and advance the sale of completed homes, effective immediately, underscoring the city's push for high-quality property market development.

"The eight-measure package promoted the circulation of homes across the market, and the September measures focused on the delivery of new homes. The two would work together to boost market confidence and steer the market toward stable and healthy development," said Zhang.

Yan Yuejin, deputy head of the Shanghai-based E-House China R&D Institute, said the housing market across the nation showed positive signs during the National Day holiday period, as local transaction volumes generally improved, according to local statistics.

wang_ying@chinadaily.com.cn