Property sales in Beijing and Shanghai rose in November after being stagnant in the previous few months. Apartment sales climbed 52.4 percent in Beijing from October, while Shanghai grew 41.98 percent, official figures of the two cities showed.

According to statistics from the Beijing Municipal Construction Committee, 12,479 apartments, with a combined floor area of 1.19 million square meters, were sold in Beijing in November.

Figures from the China Real Estate Information Circle System (CRIC), a proprietary real estate database service from E-House (China) Holdings, showed that the total floor area of apartments sold in Shanghai in November 2008 rose to 708,500 square meters.

Despite the increase from last month, apartment sales in November haven't brought much cheer to real estate developers and agents. "The increase of sales (in November) was from a low base in October when sales were dismal," explained Meng Qi, senior analyst from Century 21 China Real Estate.

(China Daily December 3, 2008)