SIGNS of improving sentiment are seen at an ongoing property exhibition in Shanghai but attractive price discounts are still rare.
The four-day Shanghai Real Estate Expo, the earliest real estate fair in the city every year, opened today at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, displaying 500-plus property developments at home and abroad, compared with about 300 last year.
"More than 20,000 square meters of exhibition space have been booked this year and the total number of visitors might hit 140,000," said Guo Lijuan, an official with EJU Times Leader, a unit under E-House China and one of the two major organizers of the expo.
"A majority of local projects are located in the outlying districts of Minhang, Jiading, Qingpu, Songjiang and Baoshan. Many of them are small and midsize apartments for budget-tight owner-occupiers."
Greenland Group, Pengxin Group and Zendai Group are among exhibitors at this year's show, but the country's leading developers such as China Vanke and Gemdale remained absent. Hong Kong builders like K.Wah Group and Hutchison Whampoa also brought projects to the fair this year.
Many of the visitors who packed the exhibition center seemed disappointed because prices remained high. Few developers offer substantial discounts.
"Home prices are still very high to me," a middle-aged woman surnamed Li told Shanghai Daily, after checking the prices of a residential project in Putuo District, which was asking for more than 35,000 yuan (US$5,600) per square meter for decorated apartments. "Frankly, I don't think apartments at that remote location should ask for that much. Unfortunately, that's the reality we have to face."
A project developed by Pengxi Group in Minhang said it would offer a 2 percent discount to buyers who need bank loans. But that didn't impress industry analysts.
"Since the buying sentiment recovered in the second half of last year, developers have obviously lost the urge to boost sales with price cuts," said Sky Xue, an analyst at China Real Estate Information Corp.
New residential properties totaling 2.34 million square meters were sold in Shanghai during the first two months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 31.4 percent, official statistics showed.