The prices of new homes in Shanghai surged nearly one-fifth last week amid robust sales of luxury villa developments in Pudong New Area.

The average price of new homes, excluding those meant for relocated residents under urban redevelopment plans, rose 19 percent to 18,355 yuan (US$2,687) per square meter between October 12 and 18, the highest in seven weeks.

The transaction volume, meanwhile, rose 18 percent to 335,200 square meters, according to research released yesterday by the Shanghai Uwin Real Estate Information Services Co.

"Due to the increase in supply by real estate developers and a pretty strong buying sentiment following the property fair held during the National Day holiday, the transaction volume rose notably over the past week," said Lu Qilin, a researcher at Shanghai Uwin. "The hot sales of Seasons Villas in Pudong helped push up the average price significantly."

A total of 28 units at Seasons Villas, a luxury project developed by Hutchison Whampoa and previously only available for lease, were sold last week at an average price of 77,907 yuan per square meter, according to Uwin.

The supply of new homes soared 81 percent in the city to 407,400 square meters during the eight-day holiday period, Uwin data showed.

(Shanghai Daily October 20, 2009)