(Yicai) Oct. 15 -- Single-day second-hand home sales in Shanghai exceeded the 1,000-unit threshold for the first time in four months yesterday, thanks to the latest real estate supporting policies introduced by the Chinese central government.

Some 1,334 pre-owned houses changed hands in Shanghai yesterday, according to the eastern Chinese city’s official data platform.

The real estate market revival follows supportive measures announced by Pan Gongsheng, governor of China’s central bank, on Sept. 24. These include lowering mortgage rates by 50 basis points to levels close to those for new loans and reducing the minimum down payment for second homes to 15 percent from 25 percent. Shanghai subsequently introduced additional support policies on Sept. 29, such as lifting resale restrictions and extending land value-added tax exemption periods.

During the seven-day National Day holiday ended Oct. 7, over 2,130 second-hand homes were sold in Shanghai, doubling the figure from a year earlier, according to data from Centaline Property’s local branch.

Shanghai’s second-hand home market continued to recover after the holiday, with sales in the following five working days nearing 900 units, up more than 60 percent from the five working days before the holiday, according to the Linping Residential Big Data Research Institute.

The total number of pre-owned home sales in Shanghai reached 7,949 units this month as of Oct. 13, up 7.7 percent from the same period in September and more than 75 percent from a year earlier.

Shanghai’s pre-owned home transaction volume may reach 18,000 units or even 20,000 this month, said Lu Wenxi, senior market analyst at the local Centaline Real Estate branch.

Even though the number of second-hand houses sold in Shanghai is increasing, the overall transaction volume remains insufficient, so there are no conditions for price increases, insiders told Yicai, adding that it will take some time for prices to rise again.

This round of policy easing will help second-hand home sales in Shanghai rebound in the fourth quarter, Zhang Bo, director of think tank 58 Anjuke Institute, told Yicai.

Editor: Futura Costaglione