Shanghai will provide 1,800 hectares of land to build properties for ordinary residents this year, accounting for 60 percent of the total land supply of the city, said Cai Yutian, director of the Shanghai Housing and Land Resources Bureau yesterday.
According to statistics, the local property market was balanced with demand and supply last year: 30.8 million square meters of properties were approved for presales and 33.1 million square meters were registered for presales, with the proportion between market supply and demand is 1:1.07.
The supply of ordinary residential properties was on the rise last year, with the housing areas below the average presale prices increasing from 16.15 million square meters in 2003 to 19.46 million square meters last year.
The local government will strengthen controls on the real estate market this year by increasing the supplies of ordinary properties and those slated for residents relocating due to urban construction, Cai pointed out.
A total of nine million square meters of properties for the relocated are expected to start construction this year, 1.5 million square meters more than a year before. The prices of such properties will be set in the light of the cost prices, Cai said.
In order to improve the local housing security system, economy housing will be leased to 18,000 poor households this year, 5,000 more than a year earlier, he added.