Luxury home buying falls in Shanghai

Sales of previously owned luxury homes fell in August in Shanghai due to subdued sentiment while the average cost rebounded to an eight-month high, an industry report showed yesterday.

The city saw 126 units of these homes costing 8 million yuan (US$1.3 million) or more sold last month, down from 134 units registered in July, according to Shanghai Deovolente Realty Co.

The August's figure was the third-lowest monthly volume recorded in the first eight months of this year. In February, 83 luxury homes were sold while June recorded the sales of 121 such homes, Deovolente data showed.

"Buying momentum in the luxury sector has also eased since the beginning of this year when the overall housing market entered a correction period," said Lu Qilin, a Deovolente researcher.

Lu said the interest of some potential buyers, who see these homes as an investment, has cooled due to the slower pace of price gains compared with the past few years.

Of the 126 houses sold last month, about 30 percent were villa developments. By price, 13 of the homes cost above 100,000 yuan per square meter.