SHANGHAI'S commercial real estate market recorded fairly strong buying momentum in the first half of this year with notable increases in both volume and value, the latest market research has found.
A total of 1.85 million square meters of commercial properties, consisting of office and retail development, were sold in the city between January and June, a year-on-year rise of 63 percent, according to a report released today by Shanghai Deovolente Realty Co.
By value, commercial property sales totaled 39.46 billion yuan (US$6.38 billion) during the same period, an annual surge of 65 percent.
In the office sector, about 960,000 square meters of space were sold during the six-month period for an average 22,206 yuan per square meter.
"The price of office properties remained generally stable at around 20,000 yuan a square meter in the first half of this year with those in non-suburban areas continuing to be popular among buyers," said Lu Qilin, a Deovolente researcher. "Offices within the Inner Ring Road jumped some 21 percent from the second half of last year while those between the Inner and Outer Ring roads climbed 4.3 percent."
Riverside International Plaza, a six-building office complex within the Inner Ring Road in northeastern Yangpu District, for instance, already sold two buildings at an average price of over 40,000 yuan per square meter since the project was delivered in March.
In the retail segment, meanwhile, nearly 890,000 square meters of space were sold across the city in the first half for an average 20,353 yuan per square meter, according to Deovolente.