In China, Shenzhen real estate is rebounding from long slump

The buyers snapped up more than 700 apartments — the most expensive ones cost more than 40,000 yuan ($6,500) per square meter — in less than two hours, the developer said.

A similar scene occurred at six other developments that also opened for business over the weekend, underscoring the strength of the rebound seen in the southern city’s housing market since the central government relaxed property-related policies in September and again in March.

In recent months, the prices for new apartments in Longhua District — near Hong Kong and home to many IT companies — have soared from around 28,000 yuan to about 40,000 yuan per square meter, analysts familiar with the Shenzhen market said.

The market for second-hand apartments has also recovered.

In April, Shenzhen was the only one of the country’s top 10 cities to see prices for new apartments higher than in the same month last year, according to data from the China Index Academy, which tracks real-estate prices in 100 cities. Its new-home prices increased by 1.09% year-on-year last month.

The data also show the city’s price for second-hand homes increased by 6% from April last year. The growth rate beat those for the other nine cities.

Analysts say the change was partly caused by the government’s efforts to stimulate demand. A policy started in September made it easier for people to buy a second home and asked banks to cut the interest rates on mortgage loans to as low as 70% of the central bank’s benchmark level. Another in March reduced the requirement for down payments for many buyers.

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