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Luxury apartments push up housing prices in Shanghai

By Qiang Xiaoji (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-07-08 13:35

The soaring trading volume of luxury housing, together with developers' move to raise housing prices, has pushed up the average housing price in Shanghai to approach 17,400 yuan ($2,547) per sq m, the record set in June 2008, the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post reported on Tuesday.

As high-end apartments continue selling fast, analysts predict the average housing price in Shanghai will soon hit a new high.

Figures from housing consultancy E-house China showed Shanghai's luxury housing projects like Tomson Riviera and Casa Lakeville, sold at an average price of 96,354 yuan and 70,349 yuan per sq m respectively, have made great deals in the past two weeks.

According to statistics from Youwin LST system, a real estate information provider, the trading volume of high-end apartments in Shanghai set a record high of 163,000 sq m in June, an increase of 15.6 percent from a year earlier and 30.4 percent over May. The average price of luxurious housing stood at 44,161 yuan per sq m, up 3.5 percent from May, which also helped drive the average housing price in Shanghai up to nearly a one-year high last month.

Related coverage:  Housing in China Related readings:  Real estate sales up, prices soar  Economist predicts housing price rally  tVanke sales up 50% year-on-year in June  Is China's real estate recovery real?

According to figures released by E-house China, the total trading volume of new homes in Shanghai was 487,900 sq m last week (June 29-July 5), down 11.6 percent from the previous week, but the average price rose 10.4 percent over the week before to a 54-week high of 17,002 yuan per sq m.

Xue Jianxiong, an analyst with E-house China, said the trading volume will remain almost stable in July, with a slight decrease compared with June, but housing prices could continue to rise.

Beijing's housing market is experiencing a similar soaring trend, The Beijing News reported on Tuesday.

The average housing price in Beijing was 13,302 yuan per sq m in June, up 2,864 yuan per sq m from January, or 27 percent. Experts say Beijing housing prices are approaching record highs.

Many industry insiders have expressed their concern about increasingly high housing prices. They said if the prices keep soaring, bubbles will soon appear.

Chen Yunfeng, secretary general of the China Real Estate Managers Association, said real estate developers should maintain the price increase at a reasonable rate and speed to ensure sustainable growth.