About 900 homes at five projects in Shanghai will be released in the market over the weekend, nearly doubling from last weekend, according to data released yesterday by real estate website Soufun.com.

The average selling price of the five developments, located beyond the city's Outer Ring Road, is about 17,000 yuan (US$2,681) per square meter, a drop of 5 percent from the same period a week earlier.

"New home supply over the coming two-day period will be the highest since mid-November, and the majority of them are targeting first-time buyers whose budget may be limited," said Tang Zhengwei, a Soufun analyst.

"A recovery in sales registered last week, an indication of continued robust demand for low to mid-class apartments, has prompted some developers to release more houses to the market."

New home sales, excluding government-funded affordable housing, surged to a three-month high of nearly 160,000 square meters last week in Shanghai, with homes costing less than 20,000 yuan a square meter snatching the top nine best-selling projects, according to earlier market data.