[photopress:Shanghai_apartment.gif,full,alignright]Average prices for second-hand apartments in Shanghai increased slightly in March. The second-hand housing index, tracked by www.ehomeway.com, increased 0.37% to 1, 648 last month. Three years ago, that number was hovering around 1,000.
‘More buyers and homeowners entered the market last month and that helped push up the index a little bit’, said Liu Shunling of ehomeway.
Additionally, the Bank of China raised loan rates by 0.27% to 6.39% from March 18. This has made homes less affordable to the average Chinese buyer and has been pushing them to buy cheap.
Prices fell in Shanghai’s Pudong areas of Jinqiao, Sanlin and Zhangjiang and in Puxi’s Minhang district.
Housing prices have reached incredible highs in Shanghai. Second-hand homes are an option for those with tighter budgets and there is an abundance of such apartments being developed on the market today that were not available a few years ago.
Source: Shanghai Daily and WATAsia Research