Second-hand homes sell in a "lightning" 3 days; new project announces price increase; Shanghai's real estate "little spring" market trend is becoming clearer.

Source: Shanghai Securities News
Author: Zhang Liang

It is nearly a full month since Shanghai’s “Seven Measures for Shanghai” housing market policy was implemented. Recently, a survey by a reporter from Shanghai Securities News found that the secondary home market saw a surge in transaction volume, with multiple indicators reaching new stage highs. The primary market also experienced a mild recovery; some projects took advantage of the momentum and announced price increases, using concrete actions to signal an optimistic outlook on market trends. All these signs suggest that, bolstered by the precise support of the “Seven Measures,” Shanghai’s housing market is showing a trend of “higher volume while prices remain stable,” and the “early spring upturn” in March has become even clearer.

Market heat clearly increases

On March 21, near the Yuqiao Metro Station in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, a real estate agent told the reporter that market transactions have been doing well recently. Within the past week, in the Jiedi International City residential compound in the Yuqiao area, three units were sold, and the agent also facilitated one deal; the client has already paid a deposit. He said, “After the new policy, transactions really became more active. Some homes sold after being listed for just three days. The room for negotiation on secondhand homes has become smaller, and the landlord’s anxiety about selling their property has eased quite a bit.”

On the same day, the real estate transaction center in Pudong New Area, Shanghai, was bustling with people. By 11:00 a.m., the large screen in the immovable property registration and transaction hall in Pudong New Area showed 55 service counters, 671 issued numbers, and 541 being processed at the time. The staff member told the reporter that on Saturdays and Sundays, all counters are fully staffed; in a day, about 1,300 numbers can be handled. After the new policy, essentially sales activity has been loosened outside the outer ring road, and people have become particularly busy. Also, March and April are normally peak seasons for housing transactions, so having crowds is entirely normal.

Since entering March, the transaction heat in Shanghai’s secondary home market has climbed rapidly, with multiple indicators hitting new stage highs. Data from Online Real Estate shows that from March 9 to March 15, 2026, Shanghai’s secondary home market recorded 7,233 cumulative transactions, up 26.69% from the previous week’s 5,709 units, and also reaching a new weekly high since 2021. Among them, 1,472 units were sold on March 14 (Saturday), which is only one unit away from the 1,473 units sold on a single day on March 15, 2025. Adding the 1,390 units sold on March 15, 2026 (Sunday), the weekend two days together totaled 2,862 units, setting a new weekend transaction peak for Shanghai’s secondary home market in the past five years.

In Zhang Bo’s view, head of research at 58 Anjuke, the surge in transaction volume for Shanghai’s secondary homes can be understood as a signal of a trend-based recovery. Based on user behavior data from Anjuke, in the week when the new policy was implemented, the number of users initiating micro-chat conversations increased by 144.7% week over week, the number of initiating users increased by 133.7% week over week, and the number of users who left phone numbers rose by 251.8%. The micro-chat to phone-number-leaving rate increased by 50.5%, and the upward trend also continued into mid-March.

The reporter recently visited the real estate transaction center in Minhang District, Shanghai. A staff member told the reporter that since the housing market new policy was issued, the number of residents coming to consult and handle property transfers has clearly increased; sometimes, on weekends, it is almost impossible to find a seat.

“From the transaction surge characteristics of Shanghai’s secondary home market in March—fast speed, strong momentum, and broad coverage—the market heat significantly increasing is the result of the combined effect of multiple favorable factors, including the sustained release of policy dividends, the gradual restoration of confidence after price adjustments, and the reversal of the supply-demand pattern,” said Yan Yuejin, deputy director of research at Shanghai E-House Real Estate Institute.

Compared with the “explosive volume” in the secondary market, the primary market looks somewhat milder, but it has also shown positive signals.

The reporter recently observed at some new residential sales offices in Putuo District, Jiading District, and Minhang District that on weekdays, some homebuyers also came to view homes. A sales representative for the China Overseas · Huanyu Jiuzhang project in Putuo District told the reporter that on weekends alone, the number of walk-in clients each day was close to 150 groups; sales staff were so busy they could hardly keep up, and even the time to have in-depth discussions with clients was very limited. A sales representative for the Times City project in Jiading District told the reporter that after the new policy, the project’s deals had doubled compared with the same period in January. A sales representative for the Poly · Duhui and Xuri project in the Zhuaqiao area of Minhang District told the reporter that on March 21, the project sold 16 units on that single day; after the new policy, the project had cumulatively sold 85 units of housing. Starting from March 23, the project will launch a second round of price increases.

According to statistics from the China Index Academy, from March 9 to March 15, 2026, Shanghai’s newly built commodity residential housing recorded 2.2 million square meters in transactions, up 62% from the previous week, setting a new weekly high since 2026 began.

Lu Wenxi, a market analyst at Shanghai Centaline, believes that “‘Seven Measures for Shanghai’ used multi-dimensional targeted policy tools, including reducing housing purchase restriction measures, optimizing provident fund loan policies, and improving individual residential property tax policies. It effectively activated the market’s potential demand.” A major increase in secondary home transactions is both a concentrated release of previously accumulated demand and a reflection of the policy’s significant boost to market confidence. The steady recovery in the primary market and the price-increase actions of certain projects further confirm the improvement in market expectations—homebuyers’ willingness to enter the market is increasing, and developers are also becoming more confident about where the market will go next.

First-time demand groups dominate

It is worth noting that the recent warm-up in Shanghai’s housing market is mainly driven by the concentrated release of rigid housing demand. The transaction structure in the secondary market shows a clear tilt toward lower total prices. During visits and research, many real estate agents told the reporter that as market heat rises, the transaction speed for small-sized secondary homes around a total price of 3 million yuan is clearly accelerating. As long as the price is close to the price of the most recently sold secondary home in the same community, it is relatively easier to close a deal.

The reporter recently visited a real estate agency storefront on Hong Song Road in Minhang District, Shanghai. Store manager Luo Yangyang told the reporter, “A few days after the new policy was rolled out, we already successfully facilitated a deal. The client started viewing homes in early February and ultimately finalized a one-bedroom unit with a total price of 1.86 million yuan.”

“As far as our area is concerned, small-sized homes are the most popular,” Luo Yangyang analyzed. “On the one hand, small-sized homes have relatively lower total prices, which fits the budget of rigid demand homebuyers. On the other hand, only after small-sized homes are transacted will existing owners have the funds and motivation to upgrade to larger homes, thereby driving the circulation of improved housing options in the market.”

According to statistics from the China Index Academy, from January to February 2026, secondary home transactions below 3 million yuan in Shanghai were nearly 17,000 units, up 25.2% year over year. They accounted for 56.1% of the total secondary home transaction volume in the same period, which is 6 percentage points higher than 2025. This structural change reflects that as prices continued to adjust downward earlier on, more homes fell into the lower total-price range, gradually revealing the advantage in value for money in secondary homes. With the release of policy benefits, the rigid demand group that had been waiting earlier showed stronger willingness to enter the market, which drove a surge in transactions for lower total-price listings.

This trend continued into March. Data monitored by Shanghai Lianjia shows that after the 2026 Spring Festival until March 19, the share of secondary home transactions with total prices below 3 million yuan exceeded 60%, up 4 percentage points compared with before the Spring Festival.

Zhang Bo told the reporter that looking at Shanghai’s transaction data, rigid demand is still the core support, while improved-demand needs show a more noticeable effect in pulling prices. From a regional perspective, improved homes in core urban areas receive higher attention, while rigid-demand homes in the suburbs benefit more clearly from policy tailwinds. In core urban areas, regions including Xuhui, Jing’an, and Changning, with high-end improved homes of 144 square meters and above, have absorbed more mid-to-high-end improved demand. In suburban areas, regions such as Baoshan, Songjiang, and Minhang, with rigid-demand housing of 90 square meters and below, have absorbed a large amount of spillover demand. The policy’s stimulation of areas outside the outer ring road is especially prominent, and the level of home-search heat is up more than 17% compared with the first half month before the Spring Festival.

“Currently, the transaction hotspots in Shanghai’s secondary home market are still mainly concentrated in rigid demand and rigid-to-improved projects located outside the outer ring road and between the inner and outer rings. Whether the market can sustain itself depends on the transaction conditions for homes with total prices ranging from 5 million to 8 million yuan,” Yan Yuejin said. According to the operating logic of the replacement chain, active rigid demand will create the premise for improved-demand needs to ‘sell the old to buy the new.’ Especially with the recent increase in news about small rises in home prices, replacement-demand buyers’ waiting sentiment is also decreasing. It is expected that in late March and the following months, transactions for mid-to-high-end improved demand and the luxury home market may also get a boost, meaning market heat will broaden and propagate.

(Editor: Wen Jing)

Keyword:

                                                            Shanghai housing market