New home supply in Shanghai more than doubled last week as real estate developers rushed to capitalize ahead of an approaching slack season, according to latest market data.
About 388,000 square meters of new homes, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, were released across the city at 11 developments over the seven days ended Sunday, a weekly surge of 118 percent, Shanghai Uwin Real Estate Information Services Co said yesterday.
"It was the third time in four weeks that the seven-day supply exceeded 310,000 square meters," said Huang Zhijian, chief analyst at Uwin. He said developers tried to boost sales before the arrival of the traditional slack months of July and August. "However, offering discounts should always remain the best way to trigger sales," Huang said.
The buying of new homes rose 18.3 percent in Shanghai last week to 227,700 square meters, and their average cost fell 4.5 percent from a week earlier to 23,401 yuan (US$3,805) per square meter, Uwin said.
