Shanghai existing home sales drop nearly 19 pct

Sales of existing homes fell to the lowest in 24 months in Shanghai amid insufficient supply and diverging market outlooks among buyers and sellers.

The purchases of previously occupied houses totaled 11,612 units across the city in February, a month-on-month decrease of 18.9 percent and a year-on-year drop of 20.4 percent, Shanghai Deovolente Realty Co said in a report.

The average cost of existing houses fell 4 percent from January to 19,612 yuan (US$3,199) per square meter as a result of a structural impact, but was up 14.5 percent from the same period a year earlier.

"Sluggish momentum extended for the fifth straight month in Shanghai in February, which is usually a slack season for home sales," said Huang Hetao, deputy director of research at Century 21 China Real Estate. "Supply of existing homes fell quite notably after an extremely robust 2013, while some owners and home seekers seemed to have rather different expectations about housing prices."

The Pudong New Area, Minhang and Baoshan districts continued to lead others in terms of transaction volume. All districts except Hongkou and Qingpu saw declines from a month earlier, according to Century 21.