Shanghai housing fair disappoints more residents

The 2010 Shanghai Spring Housing Fair has kicked off. This is the first large scaled housing event this year. Fewer developers are offering discounts, while more potential homeowners are choosing to wait and see.

Fewer developers are offering discounts, while more potential homeowners are choosing  to wait and see.

More than 300 projects are taking part in this year's fair. Some developers do not quote prices, seeking only to test the market, while prices for other projects have gone up.

A property agent said, The average price now is more than 14 thousand yuan per square meter, up by around 2 thousand yuan.

A property agent said, When we first started sales last September, the price was around 15 thousand yuan per square meter, but now the price is 18 thousand 5 hundred.

Surging prices have disappointed many potential buyers, with many hoping to wait for cheaper times.

A Shanghai resident said, Houses outside the Outer Ring now sell for more than 17 thousand yuan per square meter, and they are unfit-up houses. Who will buy these places?

A Shanghai resident said, The government's policy is not very stable, and it will affect housing prices. So I'll wait and see.

Data shows that less developers are lowering their prices since supply is decreasing. The average price for new homes in Shanghai surpassed 24 thousand yuan this week, setting a new record high. While on the other hand, the transaction volume has decreased in the same period, dropping nearly 80 percent in suburb areas.