(Yicai Global) Sept. 1 -- More than 10,000 homes in Hangzhou reportedly changed hands for a record fifth month in a row in August thanks to an all-time high influx of talent into the eastern Chinese city and a tightening new home market.

Sales of second-hand homes in Hangzhou fell about 10 percent to 10,144 last month from July, Qianjiang Evening News reported.

In 2017, when sales were at their hottest, the 10,000 mark was breached for just four consecutive months. An increase in the college student population is helping to fuel Hangzhou’s lived-in housing market this year.

A large influx of talent is the basis for the real estate boom, according to Zhou Baojun, marketing director of property brokerage 5i5j Holding Group’s Hangzhou business, who added that demand is especially strong among college students under 35 years of age.

At the end of July, the number of new college students in Hangzhou under that age had reached 234,072, up from 211,913 for the whole of last year, according to government data.

The city’s permanent population rose 554,000 to 10.36 million last year, the largest increase nationwide. With a permanent population of 10.75 million, it is likely to overtake Suzhou this year to become the second-largest city in the Yangtze River Delta region after Shanghai.

Hangzhou supplied 10,891 newly built commercial homes in urban areas last month, far fewer than May’s 17,869 and June’s 14,453. Amid relatively stable demand, there are fewer new home options, so buyers are turning to the second-hand market, Zhou said.

Editor: Peter Thomas