Beijing's high-end homes sales up in Q3

High-end apartments in Beijing saw both an increase in prices and sales volume in the third quarter, real estate consultancy firm Jones Lang LaSalle said in a report on Monday.

Six projects with sales prices above 30,000 yuan ($4,600) per square meter sold more than 200 units in the third quarter, boosting total transactions to 3,398 units, up 9.9 percent quarter-on-quarter.

In an effort to boost full-year revenues, in the third quarter — the traditional peak season — most developers launched new projects. Twelve new projects, and a total of 2,973 units, were released to the market, a large increase compared with the previous quarter.

Due to the housing purchase restriction policies in Beijing, most buyers purchased properties for self-use.

The continued rebound in transactions, together with the high price of the new projects launched, pushed up the average price of high-end apartments 7.4 percent quarter-on-quarter and 2.3 percent year-on-year to 40,994 yuan per sq m in the third quarter.