(Yicai) April 26 -- Strong sales have been recorded for four new luxury housing projects in Shanghai in less than a month, with three selling out on the first day, bucking the trend in China’s sluggish real estate market and earning their developers a combined CNY44.7 billion (USD6.17 billion).

One of the projects, in Pudong New Area, started sales yesterday and sold around 80 percent of the apartment units available at the gate for CNY8 billion (USD1.1 billion). The average price was CNY168,000 (USD23,180) per square meter, Yicai learned.

Two other downtown projects kicked off sales last week, with all the units sold out on the first day for CNY7 billion and CNY10 billion at an average per-sqm price of CNY172,800 and CNY168,000, respectively.

Another project in Puxi, the city’s historic center, went on the market at the end of last month and also sold out immediately, fetching a total of CNY19.7 billion, a record high for first-day sales of a single project nationwide. Each unit cost about CNY172,000 per sqm.

Close attention will now be paid to reservations made for two more downtown luxury housing projects set to go up for sale on April 28 and May 16. The average selling prices their developers have registered with government agencies are CNY178,000 per sqm and CNY168,000 per sqm, respectively, Yicai learned.

Amid the strong demand for luxury properties, more premier projects are coming onto the Shanghai market. Nineteen projects came on stream early last month and 25 this month, offering about 11,000 high-end apartment units. Of the two, March’s batch cost an average of CNY96,386 (USD13,300) per sqm and April’s CNY85,201 (USD11,760) per sqm.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Tom Litting