Shanghai Daily news

The online platform for secondhand home transactions has experienced a fast start since trial operations started one week ago.
A total of 1,214 secondhand apartments were registered on the Website (www.fangdi.com.cn) for either sale or rent since last Friday, said the Shanghai Housing and Land Administrative Bureau in a statement yesterday. The majority - 950 out of the 1,214 homes - were registered for sale while the remaining apartments were for rent, the statement said.
Online transactions have been hot since the first day of operation and the peak time to sign contracts between house sellers and buyers is expected to come after two weeks, the bureau said.
Residents can post their housing information on the Website by registering at 10 offices in eight districts. Buyers can simply log onto the site and search for houses.
Similar offices will be set up in the remaining districts by March 6, the statement said.
Industry officials said the launch of the online platform for secondhand homes will likely hurt real estate firms, especially small  and medium-sized agencies.
"Homebuyers and sellers can reach deals between themselves by using the Website, banking on its sufficient supply of housing and mortgage loan information," said Wei Song, managing director of Anjia Group, a leading mortgage financial service provider in Shanghai.
Previously, almost all secondhand home deals were conducted via real estate agencies.
Meanwhile, the city's benchmark index for secondhand housing prices rose 3.8 percent to 1,547 points in January from a month earlier, reported the Shanghai Existing Property Index Office earlier this week.