Supply and sales of land rebound in Shanghai

Shanghai's land market rebounded significantly in July as both supply and sales hit the second highest in 2014, following a subdued first half.

Excluding land designated for public uses, 18 parcels totaling 729,000 square meters were sold last month, a surge of 557 percent by area from June, the country's leading real estate website Fang.com, previously known as Soufun, said in a latest report. Ten of the parcels are for residential development, and eight for commercial and office uses.

The transaction value soared 685 percent month on month to 12.25 billion yuan (US$2 billion). In the first half, the value stood at 57.7 billion yuan.

"Despite cautious momentum in the overall property market amid sluggish home sales, the city's land market was strong last month with non-local housing developers, including new entrants, being particularly active in building and expanding their land banks across the city," said Li Zongzhou, a Fang.com analyst.

Land parcels auctioned last month were 12 percent higher on average than asking prices, but the figure was the lowest so far this year, Fang.com data showed. The figure was 51.4 percent in the first three months and fell to 31.1 percent in the second quarter, according to earlier market data.

But July's performance is unlikely to be repeated in August. Only five parcels totaling 227,000 square meters are set to be auctioned this month, down sharply by 73 percent from July. Their starting prices have been set at 2.78 billion yuan, a monthly drop of 75 percent, Fang.com said.