The average unit price of Shanghai's new residential properties, excluding those built for relocated residents under urban redevelopment plans, is expected to rise more than 10 percent to 1.78 million yuan (US$260,000) this year, mainly due to strong buying sentiment and an inadequate supply, according to a latest industry report.

The average price of new homes in the city could be around 1.775 million yuan a unit in 2009, from about 1.6 million yuan per unit in 2008, the country's largest integrated real estate services provider, E-House (China) Holdings Ltd, said yesterday after analyzing data from January 1 to December 20.

"This is a record price for the city's new homes," said Xue Jianxiong, an analyst with E-House. "We expect new home sales in Shanghai to hit 18.3 million square meters, or 160,000 units, in volume and 282.6 billion yuan in value by the end of this month."

About 77,000 units of new homes, or 9.07 million square meters, were sold in the city last year for about 123.9 billion yuan, the research showed. However, supply only climbed slightly by 8 percent this year to 13.3 million square meters, Xue added.

In the existing home market, the price rise is even more significant.

The price of existing homes has climbed an average 38 percent in Shanghai so far this year, with those in non-central areas registering the biggest increases, Century 21 China Real Estate said. Of the 200 mid to high-end residential projects tracked by the firm, 26 percent have risen more than 50 percent in price since early February while 39 percent have gained from 30 to 50 percent during the 10-month period, the property agency said.