Shanghai's new home sales seen weak

Sales of new homes in Shanghai in August are likely to be very sluggish after seven-day transactions remained below 150,000 square meters for the third straight week.

The purchases of new homes, excluding government-funded affordable housing, fell 0.98 percent to 129,700 square meters last week, Shanghai Uwin Real Estate Information Services Co said in a report released yesterday.

"The local new housing market seemed to turn even tougher following seven months of subdued performance despite a comparatively cool summer, which should usually benefit property purchase," said Huang Zhijian, chief analyst at Uwin.

"As of Sunday, new home sales in August totaled just 442,600 square meters in the city, or a daily average volume of 18,400 square meters."

Meanwhile, the average price of new homes dipped 0.1 percent week over week to 26,245 yuan (US$4,260) per square meter, with six of the 10 best selling developments posting a price of under 20,000 yuan a square meter, according to Uwin data.

A Wanda development in outlying Jinshan District sold 74 units during the seven-day period at 11,777 yuan per square meter on average.