Along with the continued release of policy benefits, Shanghai's property market fully delivered on its "Golden September" performance. In September, the pace of new home launches in Shanghai accelerated, and popular projects once again saw "same-day sellout" scenes; the second-hand home market also continued to see rising transaction volume, with monthly online signing volume exceeding 23,000 units, setting a new high for the same period in nearly six years. The "Golden September" market momentum also smoothly carried over into the long holiday period. Entering the National Day Golden Week, Shanghai's property market welcomed a strong start to "Silver October." Many new home projects seized the holiday window to open showrooms and launch exclusive discounted units to attract customers. Combined with clearer weather and an increase in people returning to Shanghai near the end of the holiday, many new home projects saw a small peak in visits and transactions, while the atmosphere for second-hand home viewings and negotiations also warmed in tandem.

Buyers Arriving at Sales Offices Before 9 AM

During the National Day holiday, reporters from The Paper visited new home sales offices in Shanghai and saw that many project sales offices and external showrooms were crowded with people. In addition to developers' in-house sales teams, many intermediary distribution staff were also stationed on site bringing clients and moving between various projects. At the Xiangyu Tianchen Yayue project in Pujiang Town, Minhang District, customer traffic at the sales office remained strong during the National Day holiday. According to the project manager, during the National Day period the project launched a special-price housing campaign, and unit absorption performed relatively well. As of October 4, cumulative customer visits during the holiday approached 170 groups. On the afternoon of October 5, the reporter arrived at the Xiangyu Tianchen Yayue sales office, where many customers were gathered around the sand table and in the negotiation area. Sales announcements could be heard from time to time in the showroom: "Visitor volume during the National Day holiday is high, please pay attention to the sales control table." At the same time, some viewing staff were stretched thin, and some buyers who arrived in concentrated groups could only wait briefly at the front desk. The project manager then personally stepped in to explain the project situation to visiting customers in front of the sand table. "Visits and transactions in the first few days of the National Day period were basically in line with last year. Continuous rain in the first two days had some impact on customer traffic. Today the weather cleared, and viewing enthusiasm immediately picked up. Customers arrived even before 9 AM. So far today (as of 14:24 that day), visits have reached nearly 30 groups," the project manager said. As customer traffic continued to rise throughout the day, according to feedback from the project manager, on October 5 the project received a total of 13 groups of repeat-visit customers and 52 groups of new-visit customers. Even around 21:30 in the evening, there were still customers negotiating and reserving homes in the sales office. The reporter learned at the new home sales office that current homebuyer attitudes are divergent, and purchasing decisions are more rational and pragmatic. Some improvement buyers belong to the "trade-in" group, whose existing second-hand homes have not yet been sold, and who took advantage of the long holiday to learn about and compare new home products. "I am usually busy with work and do not have much time to view homes. If I look carefully, I can learn about at most one or two projects a day. The National Day holiday offers plenty of time, and I want to focus on viewing and comparing several projects," one buyer said. Another buyer from northeastern China working in Shanghai said that housing in their hometown is spacious, and after striving in Shanghai for ten years they want to buy a larger home with better quality. "I looked at second-hand homes before too. After the intermediary took me to see new home projects, after considering everything, I still prefer new home projects more." It is worth noting that as returning traffic to Shanghai continued to increase near the end of the holiday, subsequent visits, repeat viewings, and willingness to sign contracts are expected to rise further. According to the project manager of Xiangyu Tianchen Yayue, five groups of customers who have already paid intent deposits plan to bring their families for repeat viewings on October 6-7. Based on the current situation, after the repeat viewings they will most likely complete contract signing. In terms of unit absorption, the project's first 11 batches totaled 1,016 units, and overall absorption is currently about 80%. Discussing the market outlook, the project manager judged that the real estate market will further enter the era of existing homes, and the proportion of second-hand home transactions will continue to rise. "In the future, new home supply in first-tier cities will place more emphasis on quality, and prices will remain stable." At the same time, the manager mentioned that multiple projects of the company in Shanghai will reach final sellout this year and next, and the company remains optimistic about Shanghai's land market going forward. New home projects in the Zhoupu area of Pudong also saw steady holiday customer traffic. At the end of June this year, after 89 rounds of bidding and a 19.9% premium, Greentown China acquired the Pudong Zhoupu East plot. Its project showroom also welcomed many visiting customers during the National Day period. At around 17:00 on October 5, reporters from The Paper arrived at the Greentown Tingxiangyuan showroom. Within just a few minutes of the reporter's arrival, customers came in one after another to make inquiries. "During the National Day holiday, the showroom received an average of 40 to 50 groups of customers per day. In addition to learning about unit layouts and available homes, the most common inquiries were about district planning, surrounding amenities, and future development," said the sales manager of Greentown Tingxiangyuan. The project showroom is adjacent to the street, and customers visited throughout the day. Combined with the external showroom at Zhoupu Wanda Plaza and the Sam's Club lifestyle showroom newly opened on October 2, reception pressure was relatively high during peak hours. The sales manager mentioned that the project's district is within the Zhangjiang Science City area and is close to Zhoupu East Station on Metro Line 16. It is surrounded by two rivers with relatively good natural scenery, and the Greentown brand is deeply recognized by customers. The project has not used intermediary distribution channels and is expected to officially enter the market in November this year. Public information shows that the project plans three small high-rise buildings and four 4-story stacked villas, totaling 204 units, with products covering high-rise residences and stacked villas with built-up areas of approximately 113-220 square meters.

Second-Hand Home Bargaining Room Continues to Narrow

The viewing atmosphere in the new home market was also reflected simultaneously in the second-hand home market. Song Huxiong, business director of the Senlan area at Shanghai Centaline Property, told reporters that in the early part of the National Day period, rainy weather combined with residents going out for leisure affected viewings and transactions to some extent. "Today the weather cleared, all colleagues are busy, and our branch has already begun to close deals in recent days." In his view, the level of viewings and transactions in the past two days was basically on par with ordinary weekends. At the same time, the bargaining room for second-hand homes is narrowing further. "Now the bargaining room for properties around our area is mostly 1-2 percentage points, basically not exceeding 3 percentage points, and for some properties there is almost no room for negotiation at all." Meanwhile, some intermediary managers posted milk tea and red envelopes on social media to celebrate closing deals. According to the manager of a Shanghai Pacific Housing branch on Tianlin East Road, the current customer structure entering the market is diverse. There are long-term clients who have been observing for one or two years and finally choose to act, as well as end-user buyers who view homes for a short time and quickly make a decision. Even some groups who have rented for a long time also choose to buy during a stable market phase. Reporters from The Paper learned that some buyers focus on recently completed second-hand homes, while other buyers are more aligned with their current household income situation and insist on "buying within their means." "Every family's situation is different; choose suitable housing within your affordability and budget," one buyer said. Distribution agents stationed at major new home projects also mentioned the real pace of the current property market and customer attitudes. One distribution staff member said that during the National Day holiday he took customers between various new projects every day, and different buyers' budgets and needs were all different. "Previously, some projects in Jiading and Baoshan were very hot, but if they do not match a customer's commute or daily living habits, then no matter how well the project sells, it is not very suitable for them. Also, it depends on the customer's budget." This distribution agent said frankly that homebuyer attitudes vary. Some choose to delay acting after viewing, while some customers with relatively strong purchase intentions will place deposits. In his view, the overall market is currently gradually stabilizing and improving.