Martin Li

    martin.mouse@163.com

    THE average price of new homes in Shenzhen has stayed above 22,000 yuan (US$3,566) per square meter for four consecutive months.

    A total of 3,404 new homes, totaling 326,000 square meters, were sold at an average price of 22,237 yuan per square meter last month. Last month’s highest average was 40,154 yuan per square meter, in Futian District, which has few lots for new property development.

    The high prices are not only sticking around in central districts like Futian. The average price of a new home in remote Longgang District exceeded 18,000 yuan per square meter last month.

    “Real estate developers have sufficient cash reserves, so they will be hesitant to reduce prices in the second half of this year,” said Song Ding, director of the tourism and real estate research center of Shenzhen-based China Development Institute.

    Pre-owned homes are not immune to high prices, either. A total of 6,812 pre-owned homes were sold at an average price of 26,540 yuan per square meter last month, marking 18 consecutive months of growth in that category.

    A team manager with Centaline Real Estate in Futian, surnamed Zhu, said the current supply of pre-owned homes is small, because many owners expect prices to climb higher and are delaying sales.

    Meanwhile, the average price of pre-owned shops has reached 50,000 yuan per square meter in Qianhai, a 15-square-kilometer coastal strip adjacent to Nanshan District that Shenzhen and Hong Kong are developing into a modern service industry hub. The price is 40 percent higher than three years ago.