(Yicai) Feb. 26 -- Like other major cities in China, Hangzhou’s real estate market is rebounding, with its third land auction this month seeing the second-highest premium paid since 2018. 

Bidders went through 110 rounds in the auction that ended yesterday, with one plot selling for CNY50,683 (USD6,990) per square meter, representing a 72 percent premium. That was the third-highest floor price ever paid for residential land in the city. Five days ago, a neighboring plot sold for only CNY47,486 per sqm at auction.

Since Hangzhou fully lifted the sales price ceiling on new housing last October, its land auctions have repeatedly set new records. The latest was set on Jan. 24, when a land parcel in the city's northern area sold for CNY64,834 per sqm after 220 rounds of bidding.

Two other plots were also sold at yesterday's auction, one at a 50 percent premium and the other at 21 percent. This month’s land auctions have raised CNY11.5 billion (USD1.6 billion) in revenue for the Hangzhou government.

Spurred by a scramble for high-quality land resources among property developers, the average premium paid at the latest land auction exceeded 45 percent, Gao Yusheng, executive vice president of China Index Academy's East China region, told Yicai.

This suggests that builders need to focus more on quality developments to attract potential buyers, with the Hangzhou property market entering an “era of quality upgrade,” Gao noted.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev