Shanghai Property Prices

By George P

Following up on a post from a while back, I have been going through some examples of property prices on the Shanghai market.

As is the case all around the world, there are new developments, and second hand. Second hand places are usually not quite as attractive to potential buyers, as there are extra fees associated with them. New developments cost less in Shanghai as well, compared to the second hand equivalents.

A good database exists here (of course in Chinese):

http://newhouse.sh.soufun.com/ (for new properties)

While on first inspection, the page looks like jibberish; it isn’t as difficult to get the information you want as you think. Second hand property prices are also accessible, but I won’t go in any deeper in regards to that at this moment.

From the first drop down list 城市 you select the city – in this case, 上海 (Shanghai) will be pre-selected).

The next 区县 is the district – so for this example, select 静安 (Jing An), which is right in the heart of Shanghai (and one of Shanghai’s priciest areas).

片区 – Area, e.g. 南京西路 (West Nanjing Road), 江宁路 (Jiang Ning Road), 静安寺 (Jing An Temple). This will determine the rough area you are looking for apartments in.

Search.

A list of results will be generated as shown below.

The first column details the name of the development, second gives the address, third indicates the type of apartment block, and fourth is the all-important price. The remaining columns are the developers, contact phone numbers, and finally a compare function.

Prices are set in 元/平方米 (Yuan/Square Metre). As can be seen from the list of results, you can be expecting to pay upwards of 20,000 RMB per square metre for a place in the Jing An area, near West Nanjing Road.

So, the results generated previously show rough prices in the downtown Puxi area.

As I mentioned previously, a cheaper choice would be the Pudong area, which is cleaner, and almost just as convenient (if situated along Line 2 metro).

This time select 上海 (Shanghai), then 浦东 (Pudong), and 世纪公园 (Century Park). This location is a very pleasant area of Pudong, a lot of greenery (being right next to Century Park), fresh air, and convenient access to the metro.

Scanning over the list quickly, of course with exceptions, new properties in the Century Park area are visibly lower-priced when compared with the Jing An equivalents, in some cases 10,000 RMB+ less.

Conclusion is, buying property in Shanghai depends on your personal requirements. On one hand, Puxi has great restaurants, nightlife, many conveniences within walking distance; but it comes at a high price. Pudong, however is becoming more and more attractive as it is clean and fresh, with many conveniences within a short metro ride, and also has a reasonable choice of good restaurants and supermarkets.

-GP