Shenzhen, Shanghai home sales plunge after rules tightened

Hong Kong

HOME sales in the red-hot property markets of Shanghai and Shenzhen tumbled sharply in the week after the authorities made it tougher to buy homes in the cities to prevent a property bubble, surveys by a major Chinese realtor show.

After Shenzhen and Shanghai property prices jumped 57 per cent and 20.6 per cent in February from a year earlier, local governments tightened down-payment requirements for second homes and raised the eligibility bar for non-residents to buy in the cities.

In the week beginning March 28, the first after the new rules took effect, the total floor area sold in Shanghai fell 60 per cent from the previous week to 283,600 square metres, according to nationwide agency Hopefluent Real Properties (China), whose surveys are based largely on government data. Shenzhen sales fell 28.2 per cent to 71,000 square me…