(Yicai Global) Feb. 15 -- Sales of second-hand housing in the southern Chinese megacity of Shenzhen have surged in the past week, indicating that the real estate market is responding to a slew of supportive policies, but that of newly built properties remains little moved.

Pre-owned property transactions jumped 40 percent during the week Feb. 6 to Feb. 12 from the week before to 784 apartments, according to data released by a local realtor association on Feb. 13. This is far above last year’s average weekly sales of 500 units.

Last week one of our agents took six to seven groups of people to view used apartments in downtown Nanshan district, whereas last month, before the Spring Festival holiday, he would take just one or two groups, a real estate agent in the area told Yicai Global.

And people are more willing to close deals now as they worried the prices will go up, the person added.

An apartment in Bao’an district recently sold for CNY4.3 million (USD628,300), CNY100,000 higher than the asking price as the owner started to hike the price due to the strong interest, another real estate agent said. The asking price of similar apartments in the same residential community are now between CNY4.4 million and CNY4.7 million.

But there has been little improvement in the market for newly built apartments, especially in those developments that target people who intend to live in the properties they buy.

Although many people came to view our new apartments, only a few made purchase offers, a sales agent in Guangming district said. The agency sold eight apartments in the first week after the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of last month, basically the same number as before the break.

But confidence in the real estate market is on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of respondents in a survey by realtor Leyoujia’s research center said they believe the local property market will "recover steadily" this year.

And almost 60 percent said they plan to buy apartments in the next two years. This suggests that buyers who have been standing on the sidelines for the last three years during Covid-19 could be about to unleash their buying potential, the report said.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor