Shanghai's `best location' fails to sell one unit

An apartment block billed as Shanghai's "best location" with a record price tag has failed to sell a single unit a week after hitting the market, media reported yesterday.

At an average cost of 100,000 yuan (US$13,500) per square meter, the Tomson Riviera 74-apartment complex, developed by Hong Kong-listed Tomson Group, is the metropolis' most expensive highrise, the China Daily said.

"We are confident about the project thanks to its imcomparable location," the newspaper quoted Michael Bao, project manager at Tomson Riviera, as saying.

Bao refused to confirm any sales of the apartments that overlook Shanghai's scenic riverside Bund area but insisted high-net-worth clients had streamed in to take a look.

The government's real-estate Web site said no sales had been made.

China's hottest property market Shanghai may be cooling after the nation's biggest city, home to an increasing number of foreign residents, saw prices fall 1.2 percent in September.

A recent report by real-estate agency Colliers International said buyers were taking a wait-and-see attitude after luxury-property prices in the city fell 4.5 percent.

The downturn comes after the government introduced various measures to cool overheating in several sectors of the economy, aiming in particular at the property market, which in some cities, especially Shanghai, had attracted speculative funds.

The measures, which vary from city to city, include a capital gains tax depending on the length of a buyer's holding period, the banning of pre-completion sales and a tightening of land-use rights.

Foreign residents spending over US$1 million on a home also have to now apply for approval.