Residential property prices in Shanghai averaged 25,566 yuan ($4,166) per square meter in the week starting July 15, hitting a 20-week high, figures showed.

Data from Fangdi.com, the official website of the Shanghai Real Estate Trading Center, indicated that average residential property prices edged up nearly 2 percent from the previous week to 25,566 yuan per sq m in the week starting July 15.

The Xujiahui center project, the largest idle land plot in Shanghai, will be available for bidding after an 18-year wait, according to the city¡¯s bureau of planning and land resources.

Bidding will open at a starting price of 17.5 billion yuan. Taking up a total area of 99,000 sq m, it will be developed into a commercial complex including offices, restaurants and a hotel.

This land will become the city's most expensive plot even it is traded at the starting price, insiders said.