THE rent in Shenzhen has climbed by 3 to 5 percent compared with before Spring Festival, but the rental housing market is sluggish with a low trading volume, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported yesterday.

    A Shenzhen resident, surnamed Dai, who lives in a rented apartment in the Futian CBD area, said his landlord raised the rent by 5.6 percent from 3,600 yuan (US$552.24) to 3,800 yuan per month after the Spring Festival. With a monthly income of less than 10,000 yuan, Dai said he plans to move to Longhua New Area for a cheaper apartment.

    “The high demand for rented residential and office housing in the Gangxia area will drive up the rent by 5 percent compared with the end of last year,” said Zhan Jiadong, a sales manager at Midland Realty.

    Data from the Centaline Property showed the average monthly rent in Shenzhen is 71 yuan per square meter. Growing rent has benefited property owners.

    A landlord, surnamed Chen, rented his one-bedroom apartment in Jingtian area for three years, with the monthly rent soaring from 3,100 yuan to 4,900 yuan over the past three years.

    According to a sales manager of Midland Realty in Longgang District, named Wan Fangying, the rent of small and medium-sized apartments in the Buji area has risen by 300 yuan, with the monthly rent of one-bedroom apartments hovering around 3,000 yuan and the rent of two-bedroom apartments around 4,000 yuan per month.

    The real estate agency industry hasn’t been doing as well as previous years, according to the report.

    “This year we resumed the business later than previous years after the holiday, and the turnover didn’t grow immediately after we adjusted rent prices,” said Cao Qiuhua, a senior manager of Midland Realty in Futian District.

    Wang Fei, the manager of Centaline Property’s research center, said many Shenzhen residents traveled out of town for the holiday this year and real estate agencies resumed business later than previous years, leading to a standstill in the rental housing market, but it doesn’t mean demand for rental housing will decline.

    The supply of rental housing around the city has been adequate since early this month, which is different from previous years when rental apartments were in short supply, according to the report.

    He Qianru, the manager of Midland Realty’s research center, said the regulatory policies imposed on the housing market may lead to some homeowners renting their apartments.

    (Zhang Yang)