Shanghai Housing Market Picking up Fast

Shanghai's residential price averaged ¥18,463 ($1 = ¥6.8) per m2 in August, up 47.9% from the ¥12,482 level seen six months earlier, the China Securities Journal reported, without citing where the statistics came from. The ¥5,981 increase is equivalent to the price per m2 in the downtown area of a major city in western China. Overall housing prices in the city grew 20% while those for luxury apartments (¥40,000/m2 or above) expanded 30% from March through June, said Wu Huimin, an analyst with DTZ's eastern China office.

Mortgage lending made up 42.6% of all loans extended in Shanghai in August after setting a monthly record of ¥17 billion, the central bank's Shanghai headquarters said earlier this month. The city's home loans racked up ¥314.7 billion in 2008 presenting 92.6% of the total personal loans for consumption during the year, according to the Shanghai Bureau of Statistics.

A strong luxury housing sector has fuelled rising prices. Shanghai had 13 residential developments selling for at least ¥100,000/m2 on average and 30 developments selling for ¥40,000/m2 under construction in the year through August, according to E-House China Holdings Ltd (NYSE: EJ). Tomson Riviera, the most expensive project in terms of price per m2 on the mainland, sold 38 of its low-end apartments fetching ¥97,448/m2 over the period.

Cost of land acquisition in Shanghai has not shown any signs of taking a break. Hainan Airlines Co Ltd (SHA: 600221) on Thursday purchased a 2.1 hectare block in Pudong district for ¥1.824 billion, 66.4% more than the asking price of ¥1.096 billion. The land, designated for finance, commerce and entertainment purposes, has turned out to be the most expensive acquisition ever in terms of price per m2 – ¥36,481 – in Shanghai.