HOME buying sentiment rose for the first time in four weeks amid a strong recovery in home sales in outlying areas, latest market data showed.

The area of new residential properties sold, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, jumped 33.5 percent to 159,000 square meters in Shanghai last week, Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Co said in a report yesterday.

“The latest rebound was mainly fueled by largely improved transactions in remote districts such as Jiading and Qingpu, following subdued performances over the past few weeks,” said Lu Wenxi, senior manager of research at Centaline. “However, the recovery might be just a temporary one as the first half is going to close soon and the traditional low season of July and August are approaching.”

About 28,000 square meters of new houses were sold in Jiading during the seven days ended on Sunday, a week-on-week surge of 86.7 percent and the highest across the city.

New homes sold at an average 50,789 yuan (US$7,427) a square meter, up 7.8 percent from the previous week.

About 139,000 square meters of new homes over five projects mainly in outlying areas were released to the local market, a weekly rise of 6 percent.