(Yicai) April 10 -- Sales of land at auction slumped in most Chinese cities in the first quarter from a year earlier, though a handful bucked the trend with premium plots that drove a surge in transaction values.

Some 300 cities auctioned 64.72 million square meters of land in the three months ended March 31, a 24 percent drop from a year ago, according to data from China Index Academy, a real estate market research institution. By value, sales plunged 46 percent to CNY215.4 billion (USD31.5 billion). By floor area, they shrank 26 percent to 58.93 million sqm.

Most of the top 20 cities ranked by revenue from auctioned land were core metropolitan hubs. Guangzhou headed the list, quadrupling sales to CNY25.3 billion (USD3.7 billion), according to figures from China Real Estate Information Corporation, a leading industry data provider.

Shanghai ranked second with a 37 percent drop to CNY21.3 billion due to reduced land supply, while Nantong in eastern Jiangsu province came in third with CNY11.4 billion. 

Guangzhou’s auction of a former racecourse as a mixed-use site was a standout event in February. It sold for CNY23.6 billion (USD3.26 billion), the city’s second-highest figure ever for land sold. Located in the central business district, the plot triggered 243 rounds of fierce bidding and went for a 26.6 percent premium.

The average premium achieved at auction among the 300 monitored cities in the first quarter was 5 percent, according to CRIC figures. High-profile deals such as Guangzhou’s racecourse plot lifted February’s average to 10.7 percent. It fell to 3.5 percent last month.

Among the top 20 cities by land auction sales, Hangzhou saw the highest average premium at 34 percent, followed by Guangzhou at 24 percent, the CRIC data showed.  The rate among the remaining cities was only 3 percent.

CRIC pointed out that premium land auction deals in core cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou are likely to inject renewed confidence into the market, which will gradually fan out to more cities. The China Index Academy also predicts a rebound this month as core cities auction more high-quality land parcels.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev