LAND sales in Shanghai are likely to exceed 20 billion yuan (US$32.4 billion) in June, which may rank as the highest monthly value in nearly three years, latest data showed.

As of yesterday, about 385,000 square meters of parcels, excluding those designated for relocated residents under urbanization programs, had been sold this month for about 12.67 billion yuan, Century 21 China Real Estate said in a report released yesterday.

"With seven more parcels worth at least 9 billion yuan to be released during the remainder of the week, land sales in Shanghai should easily exceed 20 billion yuan in June," said Huang Hetao, a research manager at Century 21. "It is also likely that June's figure might hit the highest in 33 months."

Yesterday, three plots in Changning and Minhang districts were sold for nearly 1.07 billion yuan.

King Wai Group and Shanghai Gardens (Group) Co Ltd were the buyers of the plots.