Influx of new businesses, residents sets off property boom

A real estate agent lists available property in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone. Statistics from property agency Centaline show that from Sept 1 to 11, transaction volumes in the neighborhoods adjacent to the FTZ were up 280.5 percent month-on-month. [Photo / Provided to China Daily]

The Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone is driving up prices and transaction volumes of housing in neighboring districts, as the State-led area is expected to become an economic driver for the country's financial hub over the next decade.

Covering 28.78 square kilometers, the FTZ was officially launched at the end of September. It's being built on the basis of existing bonded zones - the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone, Waigaoqiao Free Trade Logistics Park, Yangshan Free Trade Port Area and Pudong Airport Comprehensive Free Trade Zone.

The FTZ is luring investors into residential property in adjacent areas. Pudong Chuansha, Waigaoqiao, Zhuqiao and Lingang New City are four such areas, where housing prices have risen in recent months by some 20 percent.

Statistics from property agency Centaline show that from Sept 1 to 11, transaction volumes in those neighborhoods were up 280.5 percent month-on-month.

A member of the sales staff at Centaline's Waigaoqiao division told Xinhuanet.com that even though many sellers had raised prices by 10 percent within just a month, there were still plenty of prospective buyers.

"Sometimes an apartment offered for sale will attract more than 10 prospective clients on a single night," the person said.

"The significance of establishing an FTZ in Shanghai is similar to that of launching the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, which turned Shenzhen from a fishing village into a manufacturing center and boom town," Cai Weimin, columnist at Shanghai-based Money Weekly, wrote.

According to Cai, the Shanghai FTZ will drive up the city's housing prices, in conjunction with the Disneyland theme park and the Hongqiao Comprehensive Transportation Hub.

The three projects will spark a new round of rapid development in finance, trade, logistics, transport and tourism, creating a bright future for Shanghai, Cai wrote.