Second-hand home sale drops
11/6/2004 14:48
Shanghai government's policy to hamper the overheated property market
has turn effective, as the local second-hand home transaction has fallen 20
percent in May from the previous moth, today's Shanghai Morning Post
reported.
Anticipating a sharp price fall following the government's transfer
ban from this month, many owners of high-end property rush to sell their
apartments, while buyers hold a wait-and-see attitude, according to market
analysts.
In May, 11,300 second-hand homes were sold, compared with nearly
15,000 in April and 25,000-plus in March, according to the late data from local
housing authority.
Mid-range homes, priced between 500,000-1 million yuan
(US$60,460-120,919), has dropped nearly 4 percentage points, the sharpest among
homes of all ranges.
Trade of apartments with total prices lower than 1
million yuan has declined 5 percent from April.
Analysts predicted the
decline trend will continue in the following months and, what's noteworthy, the
ratio of high-end property with prices over 1 million yuan will
rise.
However, trade of luxury property in prime locations is stagnant,
according to industry insiders.
"Large apartments in expensive areas such as
Zhongshan Park and Xujiahui are hard to sell because of the high prices," said
Xue Wenwen, director with AJ Lihaoxin Property Co Ltd's Changning area
section.
It usually takes some months to sell such apartments, which usually
carry a price tag above 2 million yuan, the director
added.
Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news
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