Shanghai launched an official index system to track the apartment leasing market yesterday in a move to improve transparency and efficiency in the sector.
Three new benchmark monthly indexes will separately track rents and their fluctuations in the city's high-, medium- and low-quality apartments, said the Shanghai Existing Property Index Office, which compiles the index. The office comes under Shanghai Housing and Land Administrative Bureau.
Index readings will be released with detailed rental levels on the second Monday of every month, which are based on surveys of the city's nine major residential areas, including Xujiahui in Xuhui District and Gubei in Changning District, according to the office.
"The new index system will offer residents accurate information on housing rents," said Pang Yuan, vice chairman of the bureau. "This is a big step towards improving transparency in the city's housing rental market."
In addition, new indexes tracking serviced apartments and office buildings will debut in the next few months, the office told Shanghai Daily yesterday.
The city's apartment leasing market has been expanding since the beginning of this year, pushed by strong demand for high-grade housing, said industry analysts.
According to a FPDSavills Property report, the occupancy rate of serviced apartments in Shanghai hit a record high of 90.05 percent at the end of July while the average monthly rental of Grade A offices in the city rose 2.8 percent to over US$20 per square meter during the first six months.