THE number of new apartments on sale in Shanghai's Inner Ring Area shrank to 3,844 units as of yesterday (2007-11-28), raising concern that already skyrocketing housing prices may climb even higher.

A total of 18,837 new apartments were sold in the Inner Ring Area, which is 2.5 million square meters, this year as of yesterday. Huangpu District had 177 new apartments left for sale as of yesterday while the number in Luwan District slumped to only 27 units, the report said.

The declining supply of new homes downtown was a result of fewer property projects approved in the area where the supply of new land for residential purposes has become scarce, the report said. Some developers also began to reserve properties to drive up prices as the year draws to an end, the report explained.

Average housing prices in Shanghai rose 7.9 percent in October from a year earlier, outpacing September's growth rate by two percentage points, the National Development and Reform Commission said on its Website on November 14.