Shanghai's sluggish housing market has rebounded after the Chinese New Year, after local authorities issued new rules to make prices in the city more affordable for future homeowners.
The housing market in Shanghai has performed well after Spring Festival and experts are becoming more optimistic in their view of its future prospects.
"Demand in the property market is very strong recently. We've released new properties in this development after the Chinese New Year. And they are sold out within a few days. People spend much less time on buying houses. Many clients decide to buy on the spot," Chen Jinyue, sales director of Macalline Property, said.
The market was also boosted by the central government's introduction of several measures to boost the sluggish property market, including cutting the minimum mortgage down payment to 20 per cent for first home buyers. They also lowered the deed tax of property transactions, and waived business tax on properties sold after two years of purchases.
"The price of our development has grown 20 percent since last year, and the buyers are still very eager. The average price of our development is 20 million per unit, and we've sold more than a dozen in February," Liu Hua, customer manager with Zhonghai Property, said.
The Shanghai authorities have issued new rules to increase the supply of medium and small-sized apartments after the recent surge in housing prices in the city. The move has made Shanghai the first city to take measures to cool the overheating housing market in big cities.
But despite the measures, experts say other factors will keep prices high in Shanghai.
"Newcomers to Shanghai, like college graduates, are willing to settle down in the city. Their families are likely to finance them to buy house here as an investment, as the housing market in tier3, 4 cities is still sluggish," Yang Hongxu, deputy head of Zhonghai Property, said.
