THE average price of a new home in Shenzhen fell below 20,000 yuan (US$3,031) per square meter in March, down about 5 percent from the same period last year, the latest statistics from the city s planning and land resources commission showed.
It is the first time the average new home price had fallen below 20,000 yuan per square meter this year, Chinese-language media said. The figure was also down nearly 6 percent compared with February, while the number of new apartments sold in March rose 32.5 percent from previous month, according to official statistics.
However, most of the new homes sold in March were in Longgang and Bao an districts, where property prices were traditionally lower than other districts such as Futian and Nanshan, the xinhuanet.com said. The location partly brought down the average home price, said an industry analyst.
In addition, new apartments sold last month were mostly homes smaller than 90 square meters, accounting for nearly 80 percent of the 2,683 apartments sold. Prices of smaller homes are lower than bigger apartments.
Some real estate analysts said the increase in the number of new homes sold was due to demand for live-in homes. Many homebuyers did not buy property in the first two months of the year because of new tightening measures adopted by the central and local governments, said an unidentified analyst.
However, the market outlook is now unclear because price control targets required by the Central Government are becoming growth control targets. People started buying because they were afraid prices might increase further. (SD News)
