Shanghai's second-hand home transactions in a single month have returned to 30k units after 5 years! Several new housing developments plan to gradually reduce discounts.

Ask AI · Shanghai second-hand home transactions explode, how do the new policies “Seven Measures” become a catalyst for market recovery?

After 5 years, Shanghai’s monthly second-hand home transactions have returned to the 30k-unit mark, strongly confirming the “Golden March” market trend.

Monthly second-hand home transactions exceed 30k units, with prices slightly increasing month-on-month

According to data from the Shanghai Real Estate Trading Center’s “Online Real Estate,” in March, Shanghai’s second-hand homes (including commercial properties) totaled 31,215 online signed transactions, setting a new high since March 2021, nearly five years ago.

Li Gen, head of the Shanghai Lianjia Research Institute, stated that March’s Shanghai second-hand housing market was a “small spring,” with transaction data confirming a strong return of market confidence. The city’s second-hand home transaction volume not only increased by 6% year-on-year compared to March last year but also surged by 37% compared to January this year.

From the transaction rhythm perspective, after the implementation of the new “Seven Measures” in Shanghai, the second-hand housing market in March showed a weekly upward trend. From March 2 to March 8, weekly online signed transactions reached 5,709 units, as the market gradually returned to normal after the Spring Festival holiday; from March 9 to March 15, weekly transactions jumped to 7,233 units, with the market warming accelerating; just a week later, from March 16 to March 22, weekly transactions hit a new high of 7,488 units; from March 23 to March 29, weekly transactions further increased to 7,732 units, achieving growth for four consecutive weeks.

Daily transactions also performed impressively, with 13 days in March seeing daily online signed transactions surpass 1,000 units, including 7 days exceeding 1,300 units. On March 28, a record of 1,585 units was reached in a single day, the highest in nearly five years. According to monitoring data from institutions, such high transaction density is a first since 2021.

Zhang Bo, president of 58 Anjuke Research Institute, pointed out that the second-hand home transactions in Shanghai exceeded 30k units in March, with a record of 1,585 units on March 28, becoming a core benchmark for this round of market recovery. According to monitoring by 58 Anjuke Research Institute, 30 days after the implementation of the “Seven Measures,” the average daily second-hand home transactions in Shanghai reached 961 units, a 22.9% increase compared to the previous policy period in 2024 (the last round of policies). The policy impact has significantly strengthened, and the heat has continued to be much higher than before, with weekly transactions remaining at high levels.

The price side also shows positive signals of stabilization and rebound. Data from the China Index Academy indicates that the average price of second-hand residential properties in March was 55,075 yuan per square meter, a slight increase of 0.08% month-on-month, ending a 33-month-long decline. Additionally, data from Lianjia shows that the viewing volume, a leading indicator, increased by 28% compared to January, providing strong support for subsequent transactions.

Zhang Xiang, an analyst at China Index Academy Shanghai, believes that the current market recovery is driven by both policy and supply-demand factors. On February 25, Shanghai introduced the “Seven Measures,” precisely releasing housing demand, combined with pilot second-hand home purchase policies in Pudong, Xuhui, and Jing’an districts at the beginning of February, providing clear exit channels and price anchors for “old, broken, small” assets, effectively stabilizing market expectations.

The continuous optimization of the supply-demand structure also laid the foundation for the market rebound. Data from China Index Academy shows that Shanghai’s second-hand housing entered a de-stocking channel from August 2025, and by February 2026, the listed inventory had decreased by 25.7% from its peak, with supply and demand continuing to improve.

From the demand structure perspective, first-time homebuyers remain the core support. Shanghai Centaline Property data shows that entry-level homes priced under 3 million yuan are highly sought after, with transaction share rising to over 70% in March.

Yen Yuejin, deputy director of the E-House Research Institute in Shanghai, believes that the 30k-unit transaction volume of second-hand homes in Shanghai is generally at a relatively high level historically. Considering the transaction volume at the end of last year and in the first quarter of this year, the market has basically stabilized, accumulating considerable potential demand for future house exchanges. If second-quarter transaction data can continue to stay high, around 25k units per month, it will further demonstrate active market trading.

Several new housing projects plan to gradually reduce discounts in April

The hot second-hand market is also gradually transmitting to the new housing market. Data from Centaline Property shows that in March, the transaction area of new commercial residential properties in Shanghai was 563k square meters, a surge of 251.6% month-on-month, with an unprecedented rebound.

Regionally, driven by concentrated launches in Lingang, Pudong’s transactions were particularly significant, with a transaction area of 229.6k square meters, nearly half of the city’s total; additionally, areas like Baoshan and Jiading, focusing on first-time buyers and improved housing, each saw transaction areas exceeding 50k square meters, becoming core forces supporting the explosion of new home sales.

Lu Wenxi, a market analyst at Centaline, believes that although new home transactions in March did not surpass last year’s levels, front-end indicators such as visitor numbers performed well, maintaining high market heat. He pointed out that slow supply pace and insufficient single-time launches are the main constraints on further transaction breakthroughs, but the new “Seven Measures” have significantly boosted first-time and improved housing groups.

From the market performance, under the influence of the new policies, many new housing projects in Shanghai have seen a clear improvement in visitor flow and transactions. For example, at Huafa Haishang Duhui in Songjiang Dongjing, the project received 2,400 visits in March, with 76 units sold and about 350 million yuan in transaction value. Another example is Poly Duhui and Huifu in Minhang Zhuangqiao, where, in the first month after the policy implementation, the project received over 2,280 visits and sold 101 units, with a conversion rate of 20%, becoming the first project in Shanghai to reach 100 transactions in the first month after the policy.

Meanwhile, improved housing projects also performed well. It is reported that Jianfa Haichen in Yangpu Xinjiangwan City received over 1,500 visits in March, with 39 units sold, ranking first in Yangpu District for March and the first quarter. The project has launched approximately 230-square-meter Shanghai-style duplexes and some 105-square-meter apartments, which are currently hot-selling.

It is worth noting that, with the market warming, signs of narrowing discounts and price stabilization in the new housing market are beginning to appear. For example, Poly Duhui and Huifu announced that from March 9, the selling prices of their apartment units increased by 0.5% across the board; from March 23, discounts were further tightened. Other projects like Jinhai Yunshu, Huafa Haishang Duhui, and Yijiang Zhen Di also plan to gradually reduce discounts in April.

According to Zhang Xiang, an analyst at China Index Academy Shanghai, the current structural differentiation in Shanghai’s real estate market remains obvious: high-quality new projects are recognized quickly and sell out fast, but some suburban areas still face certain de-stocking pressures.

Additionally, data from top real estate companies monitored by China Index Academy shows that in the first quarter, the top 30 developers in Shanghai achieved a total sales of 76.91 billion yuan, with a sales area of 30k square meters. China Resources Land led with 11.57 billion yuan in sales, followed by China Merchants Shekou and Poly Developments.

Lu Wenxi pointed out that the booming second-hand market in March has cultivated a large number of potential new home buyers, and second-hand sellers are likely to enter the market to purchase new homes, providing strong support for April transactions. With continued supply in April, market transactions are expected to further break through, with heat surpassing that of March.

China Index Academy’s Shanghai Executive Vice President Cheng Yu believes that, based on March’s market performance, policies have initially activated market demand, with second-hand homes warming up first and new home transactions rising significantly. Looking ahead, if current market sentiment continues, Shanghai is likely to maintain high activity in the “small spring” market. However, it should be noted that market stabilization will still be a gradual process, and its sustainability depends on substantial recovery of residents’ income expectations and housing price expectations.