SHANGHAI: Sales of new homes by floor area rose 12.8 percent last year to 20.1 million square meters, the Shanghai Statistics Bureau said yesterday.
The mean selling price in the period increased 31 percent to 21,500 yuan (US$3,270) per square meter.
By location, the average cost of a new home inside the Inner Ring Road rose 34.4 percent year on year to 72,066 yuan per square meter, while for those outside the Outer Ring Road, prices increased 19.6 percent to 16,065 yuan.
The mean selling price of properties between the two circulars rose by 41.8 percent to 33,577 yuan per square meter, the bureau said.
In terms of floor area, the available stock of new homes — excluding government-subsidized affordable housing — fell by more than 19 percent to 10.75 million square meters at the end of the year.
The total investment in real estate development in 2015 rose 8.2 percent year on year to 346.9 billion yuan, compared with 13.7 percent annual growth in 2014.
Meanwhile, Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants said yesterday that sales of pre-owned homes continued their upward momentum in January.
A total of 44,500 units changed hands in the month, up 4.3 percent from December and a rise of 146.2 percent year on year, the company said.
“Sales of pre-owned homes got off to a great start in 2016, as many buyers sought to complete their deals before the Chinese New Year,” said Sun Li, a senior researcher with Centaline.
“We expect the transaction volume to fall to between 30,000 and 35,000 units this month, however, due to the holiday.”
The mean selling price of pre-owned homes in January rose 2.4 percent month on month and 17 percent year on year to 27,156 yuan, the report said.
The biggest growth was recorded in Shanghai’s outlying Fengxian District, where sales in the month rose 22 percent from December to more than 1,240 units.
The market in Songjiang District was also buoyant, with sales up nearly 11 percent month on month at 2,878 units, the report said.
Meanwhile, the city’s pre-owned homes index — which is compiled by the Shanghai Existing House Index Office and tracks monthly price changes — climbed 0.95 percent month on month in January to 3,252, slowing from a 1.9 percent rise in December.
Average prices rose in 99 of the 130 areas monitored, fell in 13 and were unchanged in the remaining 18.
