During the May Day holiday, Shanghai's real estate market demonstrated a gentle recovery trend, with both new and existing home transactions rising and market confidence continuing to improve. Data from Shanghai Lianjia indicates that citywide secondary home transactions during the holiday increased by 16% year-on-year, while client inquiries grew by 4%. The higher growth rate in transactions compared to inquiries suggests stronger buyer commitment and shorter decision-making cycles, reflecting a shift from cautious inquiry to active purchasing and indicating restored market confidence. Centaline Property data further supports the recovery trend: over the five-day holiday, Shanghai recorded 1,390 secondary home transactions, a 15.93% year-on-year increase, closely aligning with Lianjia's figures. The Centaline report highlights that mid- to low-priced properties currently dominate the Shanghai market, with many residential complexes experiencing housing shortages. Notably, after a seasonal rebound, the number of property listings has begun to decline again, and the total volume of listings is expected to continue decreasing. As a result, seller confidence has strengthened, reducing willingness to negotiate on prices and narrowing the scope for bargaining. The new home market also showed improvement, with both transaction volumes and property viewings increasing. According to Centaline, sales of new residential properties in Shanghai during the holiday reached 33,900 square meters, up 14.14% year-on-year. Lianjia’s data also showed a 14% year-on-year rise in new home viewings, with high foot traffic maintained at sales offices. For example, China Jinmao, which has multiple projects on sale, reported over 3,000 visitor groups during the holiday, resulting in more than 100 sales. China Construction Jiujia’s flagship project, Jiushang Langchen, located in the Daning area of Jing'an District, also saw crowded sales offices, with 271 client visits and 13 units reserved. As of now, smaller unit types in the project are nearly sold out. Similarly, China Merchants Shekou achieved strong performance during the holiday through multi-project promotions. Its project, Hai Shang Qing He Xi in Xuhui District, recorded sales of 23 units totaling 340 million yuan, while the Zhenjing project in Pudong’s Qiantan area received reservations for over 40 units, corresponding to approximately 300 million yuan in sales. Another project, Yijiang Zhendi in Tangzhen, also achieved sales of 300 million yuan. Over the five-day period, China Merchants’ Shanghai projects secured total reservations amounting to 1.363 billion yuan. As the only luxury property along the Expo waterfront in China to exceed 10 billion yuan in sales for two consecutive years, Poly’s Shibo Tianyue project maintained strong momentum during the holiday, attracting over 137 visitor groups and achieving sales exceeding 490 million yuan. Additionally, Poly’s twin projects in Minhang District—Poly Duhui Hexu and Poly Guanghe TOD—recorded 77 transactions totaling 577 million yuan, leading the area. With multiple projects performing well, Poly’s Shanghai reservations during the holiday reached nearly 1.5 billion yuan, an 82% year-on-year increase. This market recovery is not accidental but stems from the combined effects of ongoing policy support, orderly demand release, and gradually improving expectations. Since the beginning of the year, many regions across China have introduced measures to stabilize the property market. In February, Shanghai implemented the "New Shanghai Seven Measures," which include optimizing purchase restrictions, increasing provident fund loan limits, and supporting reasonable housing demand, thereby reducing transaction costs and stimulating legitimate home purchasing activity to promote steady market recovery. Lu Wenxi, a market analyst at Centaline Property Shanghai, stated that following the fulfillment of the traditional "Golden March, Silver April" sales season, market sentiment has continued to improve, making the moderate increase in transactions expected. The sustained strength in the secondary home market provides ample confidence, and with smooth upgrade chains for new homes, it is anticipated that Shanghai’s property market will maintain a healthy pace in May, with secondary home prices having continued upward momentum.
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