(Yicai Global) July 11 -- Consumer confidence in Shanghai further improved by almost 18 points in the second quarter from a year ago as sub-indexes for expectations and home-buying hit historic highs despite the middle-income naysayers, according to an indicator produced by the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

The consumer confidence index jumped 17.9 points to 122.3 in the quarter ended June, per the gauge revealed today. However, interestingly, low and high-income consumers are more optimistic than the middle class.

The sub-index of evaluation, which measures consumers' views on their income, employment, and their home city's economic situation, surged 19.4 points to 120.4. Meanwhile, the sub-index for expectations in these regards rose 16.4 points to a historic high of 124.3 points. A gauge of timing to buy an apartment soared 30.3 points to an all-time high of 96.6 points.

The boost comes from several factors, according to researchers. First, Shanghai, among other Chinese cities, has gradually recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic over the past 12 months while the baseline of last year was low. The Chinese economy rebounded steadily despite the slow global economic growth.

However, low and high-income consumers were more optimistic about the economic situation than the middle class. The sentiment index of high-income consumers was the highest at 126.9 points, followed by low-income consumers at 120.7 points, whereas earners in between those two classes stood at 105.3 points.

In terms of consumer expectations, the same pattern repeated as the sub-index for big earners tallied 129.2 points, that for low-income workers was at 116.4 points, and the gauge for middle-income ones showed 100.1 points.

In the second quarter, the city's comprehensive index of consumer sentiment rose 10.5 points from the first quarter.

Editor: Emmi Laine