(Yicai Global) Aug. 31 -- The turnover of second-hand apartments in China has been on the increase for three straight weeks this month, outstripping sales of new property in some places, as local governments start to put more emphasis on the pre-owned market and as credit eases.

Some 14,859 second-hand units changed hands in 10 Chinese cities last week, a gain of 2.3 percent from the week before, according to data research center Zhuge. Over the same period, 23,189 new apartments were shifted in 15 municipalities, representing a weekly gain of 0.4 percent.

A number of cities introduced favorable real estate policies in the second quarter targeting lived-in apartments first, said Xu Tao, chief financial officer at real estate transaction and service platform KE Holdings. Overall, many customers who took a wait-and-see approach are now starting to enter the market.

Chengdu, the capital of southwestern Sichuan province, has been leading the way with July’s sales of pre-owned apartments hitting an almost 10 year high of 17,296 units, Ding Zuyu, chief executive at real estate agency E-House China, said on Aug. 25, citing data from China Real Estate Information Corp.

Sales of pre-owned apartments in Chengdu have been on the rise since March, when they topped those of new apartments, at 13,858 units, Ding said. Last month, used homes made up 54 percent of the total floor area sold, compared with 37 percent in January.

More people are choosing to buy completed new apartments or pre-owned ones after highly leveraged developers have recently struggled to hand over properties under construction on time. These days, people who opt for pre-sales prefer to choose projects by state-owned developers, a staff member at one such firm told Yicai Global.

Many Chinese cities have also scrapped issuing guiding prices for pre-owned homes. In February, 15 cities were giving indication prices, only two of which still do so.

But some industry players believe that the second-hand property market is still recovering as prices are remain in flux, despite the increase in trading volume in some cities.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor