Jun. 20, 2012 (China Knowledge) - Shanghai saw its sales area of properties fall at a narrowed decline of 10.7% YoY to 6.24 million square meters in the first five months of this year, according to the latest statistics released by the Shanghai Statistics Bureau.

The sales area of residential properties dropped 0.9% YoY to 5.57 million sq m from January to May. The sales area of properties for office use experienced the biggest decline of 56.2% YoY, reaching 274,600 sq m, and that of commercial properties plunged 33.7% YoY to 296,400 sq m.

During the period from January to May, the city's investment in real estate development rose 7.9% YoY to RMB 82.11 billion, accounting for 50.3% of its total fixed-asset investment.

The city started construction on 12.93 million sq m of properties in the first five months, 15.3% less than in the same period of last year. The figure included 7.76 million sq m of residential properties, reflecting a plunge of 26.6% YoY.

Meanwhile, 7.69 million sq m of properties was completed during the period, rising 12.5% YoY.