IT'S still too early to say that Shanghai's land market is cooling even as two plots on the former Expo site in Pudong New Area were sold yesterday at starting prices to state-owned enterprises, an analyst said.

China Electronics Technology Group Corp paid nearly 2.19 billion yuan (US$3.56 billion) for a 14,786 square-meter parcel while China UnionPay acquired a neighboring plot of 18,218 square meters for 2.33 billion yuan.

The average gross floor area price for the two parcels, designated for office and retail, was 28,429 yuan per square meter.

"Despite the fact that the two pieces were both sold at asking prices, the city's land market still seemed overheated with average land cost at 14,490 yuan per square meter in May, which was a record in the city," said Zhao Baogeng, an analyst with Shanghai Deovolente Realty Co. "And as of yesterday, the average land price for this month continued to climb to 15,804 yuan a square meter."

Last month, three smaller land parcels in the former Expo site fetched nearly 2.6 billion yuan, with two of them sold at the starting price.

In May, 21 land parcels in Shanghai were sold for 17 billion yuan, up 41 percent from April, according to Deovolente.