THE average rent for an apartment reached 41 yuan (US$6.18) per square meter in Shenzhen in the fourth quarter last year, a 10.8-percent increase compared with the same period in the previous year.
Another rise in home rent was expected after the Spring Festival, the Shenzhen Evening News reported yesterday, quoting a housing lease administration official.
The fourth quarter was usually low season for home leases because large numbers of migrant workers returned home.
But last year s rents rose because of increasingly severe inflation and an active housing sales market, he said.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development had issued a regulation limiting joint tenants and leasing of basements, kitchens or toilets last December.
The regulation would cause home rents to rise after it took effect Feb. 1, the official said.
The average home rent in Futian District was the highest reaching 52.5 yuan per square meter. The average in Nanshan District was 47 yuan per square meter and 45 yuan per square meter in Luohu District.
The average rent in Longgang District was the lowest at 25 yuan per square meter.
The average office rent was 102 yuan per square meter, an increase of 4.1 percent over the previous quarter and an increase of 24.4 percent over the same period in the previous year.
Office rents had risen for six consecutive quarters and data showed the office vacancy rate in Shenzhen was lower than Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, but higher than Hong Kong.
Average shop rents increased to 216 yuan per square meter. (Tina Chen)
