A HIGH-END housing complex in Nanshan District, which opened for sale Saturday at 35,000 yuan (US$5,125) per square meter, was sold out in a day, the China Securities Journal reported yesterday.
The paper said the developer of the Sanxiang Haishang housing estate received nearly 500 million yuan from the sale Saturday.
Boosted by speculators for more than six months, luxury housing prices almost doubled from last year and developers had accelerated launching new luxury projects to profit from the surging sales.
When a housing complex in Luohu District, Park Manor Lane, was priced at 40,000 yuan per square meter late last year, it was the most expensive residential estate in Shenzhen and attracted wide attention.
Most luxury apartments and villas going on sale this year, however, are now far more expensive and sales have never been more brisk.
Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Town Holdings, the owner and operator of Overseas Chinese Town, recently launched seven luxury villas, which were priced at 120,000 yuan per square meter. These were also sold out in a day.
A large number of luxury housing projects in the six major areas for expensive villas, including Shekou Peninsula and Dameisha, have gone on sale this year. Most of the apartments and villas were sold for more than 5 million yuan each, according to the Journal. At least 1,000 were sold for more than 10 million yuan.
Rare natural views from these luxury residences were among the reasons for the high prices, analysts said, but speculative investment in the first half of the year was the major drive.
“Active speculation pushed up luxury housing prices this year,” said Li Yaozhi, general manager of Centaline Property. “Investment on an 8 million yuan villa brings more return than buying 10 apartments worth 800,000 yuan each. So speculators swarmed into the high-end market.”
The sky-high prices of luxury housing pushed up the city’s average housing prices in August, which stood at 18,830 yuan per square meter, up 18.61 percent from a month ago, according to a research report by DTZ’s Shenzhen branch.
In contrast, developers offered few lower-priced apartments in the past month. Official figures showed developers launched only 217,900 square meters of lower-priced average apartments, almost 60 percent less from a month ago.
Some developers deliberately put off the launch date of some less expensive projects to coincide with the housing fair in early October, DTZ’s report said. (Liu Minxia)