(Yicai) July 11 -- House sales in Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province plunged in the first half of the year, despite the introduction of a new supporting policy prompting a sharp recovery in June.

Just over 3.2 million square meters of houses were sold in Wuhan in the six months ended June 30, down 51 percent from a year earlier, according to data released by real estate consultancy firm Cushman & Wakefield yesterday. The average transaction price in the city fell 2.3 percent to CNY16,185 (USD2,230) per sqm in the period.

Wuhan issued a policy allowing residents to apply for discount vouchers worth between CNY50,000 and CNY100,000 (USD6,880 and USD13,750) when purchasing houses in certain areas in early May. As a result, home sales in the city soared more than 18 percent from a year earlier and 8.9 percent from a month earlier in June, Cushman data showed.

In the first half, Wuhan rolled out a series of favorable policies that stimulated market vitality to some extent and are expected to continue boosting recovery, said Hu Yun, research development manager at the local branch of Cushman.

Wuhan’s land market has shown signs of recovery in the first half, according to Zhou Xing, general manager of Cushman Wuhan.

The total land transaction area in the city surged 83 percent to over 1.71 million sqm in the first half from a year earlier, while the transaction amount fell 34 percent to CNY11.7 billion (USD1.6 billion), as the price per sqm plunged over 43 percent from the end of last year, Cushman data also showed.

Parks and green spaces, transport hubs, and educational and sports facilities accounted for about one-third of the total land transaction area in the first half, which is the main reason for the decline in prices, Hu noted, adding that over 79 percent of the transactions were made by central state-owned enterprises.

The primary source of leasing demand came from companies in the professional services, technology, media, and telecommunications, finance, and education sectors in the first half. 

Editor: Futura Costaglione