Shanghai's most expensive property project has booked no business in the first three days since opening its doors last weekend, another sign of the slowdown in Shanghai's housing market, Tuesday's Eastday.com reported.

The Tomson Haijing Garden project, developed by the Hong Kong-based Tomson Group, includes four blocks in Pudong's Lujiazui area with a price tag of over 110,000 yuan (US$13,597) per square meter on average.

Analysts remain cautious about the market response, pointing out that price competition has already commenced in Lujiazui, Pudong's central business zone.

For example, the Skyline Mansion, a nearby luxury condo project, has lowered its quoted prices from an initial 100,000 yuan per square meter to below 60,000 yuan and finally settled transactions at no higher than 30,000 yuan, they noted.

The lowered prices seem reasonable, as about 80 percent of the condos have been sold, disclosed sales staff with Skyline Mansion.

With average housing prices standing at around 25,000 yuan per square meter in Lujiazui, developers of luxury projects seem hesitant and many prefer to delay sales until the market has found its level.

Reflecting this, Shanghai Pengli Real Estate Co Ltd, developer of the luxury Gloria Harbor View project in Lujiazui, has yet to commence sales, though it announced the sale a year ago. 

"Because of a series of changes in government policies lately, we have, in response, to make changes to our opening time and prices," a Pengli salesperson said yesterday.

Construction of the project will be finished by the end of this year.

Incomplete data cited by Eastday.com indicated housing supply in Lujiazui has topped 330,000 square meters, with 140,000 square meters at Tomson Haijing Garden, 40,000 square meters at Skyline Mansion and 98,000 square meters at Top Gloria Harbor View.

(Shanghai Daily November 2, 2005)