Hot Shanghai property market defies national slump as luxury units sell quickly
Luxury developments such as One Central Park fetch high prices from rich buyers who are undeterred by economic uncertainty
Shanghai’s high-end property market continues to buck the national downturn, with deep-pocketed buyers pouring capital into top-tier homes that are seen as value-preserving assets despite economic uncertainty, analysts said.
Buyers snapped up all 64 units offered at One Central Park, a luxury development in the city’s core Huangpu district, on Wednesday, spending 4 billion yuan (US$556 million).
Developed by Sunac China Holdings, Citic Group and Xinhu Group, the project is located in the city’s Xintiandi shopping and entertainment area. The flats in the sale were priced at an average of 185,000 yuan per square metre (10.8 sq ft). The largest duplex sold for more than 246,000 yuan per square metre, making it one of the most expensive residences sold in the city this year in per-metre terms.
The two earlier rounds at One Central Park also sold out within hours, and the project’s year-to-date sales have exceeded 10.8 billion yuan, making it the first residential project in China to surpass 10 billion yuan in 2025.
The sale on Wednesday, which included flats between 300 and 1,000 square metres, was nearly triple-subscribed during the registration period, triggering a points-based allocation system designed to curb speculative buying – the first such case in central Shanghai this year. The developer said it planned to launch the fourth phase of the project, focused on high-floor units, in June at the earliest.
Luxury home sales have shown sustained strength across the city. New home prices in Shanghai rose in April and May, outpacing national averages, according to Centaline Property.
Last week, new-home sales in Shanghai rose 72 per cent from the previous week, while average prices surged 49 per cent to a record 107,746 yuan per square metre, Centaline data showed. Buoying the figures, premium projects including Swire Properties’ Lujiazui Taikoo Yuan Residences and Greentown China’s Symphony Shanghai all sold out quickly on their launch days, Centaline said.
Units at Poly Real Estate’s Bund 98 and ITG Holding’s Origin Pile, in the suburbs, saw overwhelming demand this month as well, also triggering points-based sales restrictions.
“Inventory in central locations remains scarce, while demand from high-net-worth buyers, especially younger professionals and returnees [from overseas], is proving to be resilient,” said Zhang Yu, a research director at Centaline’s Shanghai bureau. “Luxury homes are increasingly seen as value-preserving assets amid economic uncertainty.”
Renewed economic confidence, improved liquidity and better-than-expected supply of premium projects in key cities were helping to lift sentiment in the upper end of the market nationwide, analysts said.
Overall, Shanghai’s home prices rose 0.5 per cent month on month in April, outperforming other tier-one cities, according to property information platform 58Anjuke.
“The data doesn’t point to a broad-based price increase, but rather reflects the weight of luxury supply pushing the average up,” said Zhang Bo, an analyst with 58Anjuke. “In essence, price trends in Shanghai today are entirely supply-driven. Premium locations and products perform strongly, while less desirable regions remain stagnant.”
The luxury segment was leading the current recovery cycle, said Yan Yuejin, vice-president of E-House China Real Estate Research Institute in Shanghai.
“It shows how deep-pocketed buyers are still willing to deploy capital into prime assets, even as the mass market remains subdued,” Yan said.
In Shanghai, sales of new homes priced at 30 million yuan or more hit 809 units as of May 19, on track to surpass 2,000 for the second straight year and to match or exceed the full-year tallies between 2021 and 2023, according to E-house.
“Capital is flowing into high-end assets seen as stable and resilient, especially as savings yields drop and broader investments remain volatile,” E-house’s Yan said. “Favourable homebuying policies have also helped maintain momentum beyond just one-off spikes.”
He added that strong demand for upgrades, especially in prime locations, along with recovering sentiment and a lack of resale listings, was giving the market further support.