Shanghai Daily news

Higher interest rates will not lead to an immediate drop in demand for pre-owned housing and prices in Shanghai, analysts said yesterday.
Thousands of local residents visited the Fifth Shanghai Second-hand Housing Fair yesterday, indicating the central bank's interest rate rise did not dampen public enthusiasm for purchasing pre-owned apartments, said Zhu Huiping, director of Shanghai Shenyang Property Agency.
"Despite the higher interest rates, people continue to buy flats now because they anticipate the city's housing prices to keep rising in the long run," Zhu said. "Besides, the rate increase is still too small to influence home seekers' decisions."
Last Thursday, China's central bank raised its benchmark one-year lending rate by 27 basis points to 5.58 percent. It was the first rate hike in nine years.
Homeowners who have signed a contract but have not borrowed from commercial banks will be charged the new rates when they begin using the loans. Those who have already signed a mortgage and have borrowed money from lenders will also have to pay the new interest rate starting next year.
"The interest rate hike means I have to pay 28 yuan (US$3.37) more every month and I think it's still affordable," said Li Qi, who has just signed a 20-year mortgage to borrow 200,000 yuan.
Shanghai's second-hand housing prices climbed during the past several months, official statistics showed.
The benchmark index for the second-hand housing prices in Shanghai rose 1.2 percent to 1,399 points in September, compared with 1.1 percent gain in August and 1 percent rise in July, the Shanghai Existing Property Index Office reported. The office will publish the October figures next Monday.
"Transactions of pre-owned apartments have been growing in general even after the central bank raised its loan rate," said Huang Weiwei, secretary general of the office, without releasing any figures.
"I don't think the city's second-hand property market is likely to experience great price fluctuations within the year."