The growth rate in Shanghai housing prices slowed to 9.2 percent in 2005, according to the latest estimates from the municipal government.

Housing prices grew less rapidly in Shanghai in 2005, slipping from a year-on-year growth rate of 19.9 percent in the first quarter to 12.4 percent in the third quarter. The overall growth rate for the year is forecast to be 9.2 percent.

In 2004, the city's housing price went up by 14.6 percent year-on-year, and the average price per square meter reached 6,385 yuan (US$788).

The lowered growth rate can be ascribed to the municipal government's macro control policies to check the soaring housing price.

Last year's municipal government work report said that the government would emphasize building more affordable houses so as to spur consumption.

The city also issued a regulation last March saying that houses sold within a year of purchase will be taxed, in a bid to thwart speculation in the real estate sector.

Statistics show that affordable houses represent more than 75 percent of all houses sold in Shanghai in 2005, meeting the goal set previously by the government.

(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2006)