Shanghai's March transaction volume of second-hand homes reached 31k units, with new home transactions increasing by 101.9% month-on-month.

Cailianshe, April 1 (Reporter: Wang Haichun) In Shanghai, the number of secondhand home transactions has surpassed the 30k-unit mark.

According to data disclosed by Lianjia in Shanghai today, in March this year Shanghai’s entire citywide secondhand home transaction volume reached 31k units. It not only increased by 6% year over year compared with March last year, but also surged by 37% versus January this year.

Zhang Bo, president of the 58 Anjuke Research Institute, said that based on monitoring data from the platform where he works, “in the 30 days after the implementation of the ‘Shanghai Seven Articles’ policy,” Shanghai’s secondhand home average daily transactions were 961 units, up significantly by 22.9% compared with the period after the 2024 policy (the previous round of policy). The policy’s “impulse strength” was notably stronger, and the heat continued far longer than before; weekly transactions remained consistently at a high level.

“Among the sectors in Shanghai where improvement-oriented demand is more concentrated—such as Zhangjiang, Jiading New Town, and some areas within the inner ring—the increase in heat has been relatively obvious. These sectors have rebounded quickly, driven mainly by policy easing, the release of improvement demand, the scarcity of core assets, and a repair of market expectations. Funds and heat have continued to concentrate toward core cities.” Zhang Bo said.

Not only transaction volume—on the price front, Shanghai’s secondhand home market has also shown encouraging signals of stabilizing and rebounding. Lianjia data shows that in March the secondhand home price index rose 1% month over month. Meanwhile, as a leading indicator, the number of home viewings (capturing demand) also increased by 28% compared with January, providing strong support for subsequent transactions.

“As transaction volume stabilizes, homeowners’ asking prices have become more firm, and bargaining room has clearly narrowed. Taking Shanghai as an example, the bargaining range for secondhand homes has narrowed from the previous 5%–8% to 2%–3%; in some listings in the core areas, there have even been cases of small price increases.” Zhang Bo said.

In Li Gen’s view, who is in charge of the Research Institute of Lianjia Shanghai, March’s “early-spring rebound” in Shanghai’s secondhand home market is fully showing. The transaction data itself confirms a strong return of market confidence.

“A whole set of data clearly shows that the ‘Shanghai Seven Articles’ new policy’s targeted measures have played a role in promoting the market. The real estate new policy introduced in Shanghai in February—by exerting force across multiple dimensions such as optimizing purchase restrictions and lowering transaction costs—effectively connected the home-exchange chain, releasing both rigid and improvement-oriented housing demand. The policy’s continued “fermentation” injects liquidity into the market, enabling Shanghai’s secondhand home market to steadily enter a benign cycle of recovery alongside a simultaneous rise in both volume and prices.” Li Gen said.

In addition to the secondhand home market, the new home market in Shanghai has also shown signs of a rebound.

According to Cnindex Institute monitoring data, in March this year Shanghai’s commodity residential housing (excluding affordable housing) had a contracted area of 30k square meters, up 88.7% month over month compared with February; the number of units sold was 2,270, up 101.9% month over month. On a cumulative basis, in the first three months of this year (January to March) Shanghai’s commodity residential housing (excluding affordable housing) had a contracted area of 31k square meters, with 5,616 units sold.

At the policy level, since February this year, Shanghai has seen a dense release of supportive real estate policies. In early February, a pilot program to purchase secondhand homes for use as affordable rental housing effectively stabilized market expectations. On February 25, the “Shanghai Seven Articles” for the real estate market were issued, cutting housing purchase restrictions, optimizing provident fund mortgage loans, and improving property tax policy—reducing purchase hurdles and releasing reasonable housing demand across multiple dimensions.

Cheng Yu, executive deputy general manager of Shanghai enterprises at Cnindex Institute, believes that judging from Shanghai’s market performance in March, policies have already preliminarily activated market demand. The secondhand home market rebounded first, and new home transactions have also risen significantly. If the current market conditions can be sustained, Shanghai is expected to maintain relatively high levels of activity during the “early-spring rebound” period.

“This year’s Shanghai ‘early-spring rebound’ is quite solid, but this year’s ‘early-spring rebound’ has a more structural character—secondhand homes are stronger than new homes, not a broad-based nationwide price increase across the board. And from a national perspective, there may be differentiation in which first-tier and strong second-tier core cities build their base and stabilize first, while third- and fourth-tier cities continue to search for a bottom.” Zhang Bo said.

What we’re seeing now is not simply a short-term policy impulse. It is a signal that core cities are building their base and stabilizing, but the national market has not yet fully reversed. Overall, the current market has formed a pattern in which secondhand homes in core cities lead, and the new home market is expected to improve next, supported by the unlocking of the secondhand-to-new exchange chain.

Cheng Yu emphasized that what needs attention is that market stabilization will still be a gradual process, and its durability depends on a substantive repair of residents’ income expectations and housing price expectations. For real estate developers, amid the continued deepening of structural differentiation, they need to focus on prime locations, adhere to product thinking, and develop genuinely “good homes” that truly match market demand, so they can take the initiative in the next cycle of the market.