AsiaPundit admits to playing his iPod at volumes that can damage hearing, but in Shanghai it’s the only way to drown out the street noise. AP now regrets the hearing damage, he wishes he could tell whether that noise emanating from the city is a slow hiss or if he missed a large popping sound.:

The amount of new apartment space on sale in Shanghai jumped to 9.66 million square metres as of Tuesday almost three times the 3.59 million square metres on the market at the end of 2004, according to city government figures. Home sales this year reached 26.8 million square metres by mid December about two-thirds of the 34.9 million square metres sold in 2004.

"We had to cut prices in order to sell the remaining stock," said Qian Zheng, sales manager at the development, which is asking an average of 9,300 yuan (US$1,148) per square metre, down from 13,000 yuan (US$1,605) at the peak earlier this year. "We need the cash for the development of another project."

Shimao Riviera Garden, a high-end project in the city’s Lujiazui financial district, reduced asking prices to 26,000 yuan (US$3,210) per square metre from a peak of 36,000 yuan (US$4,400) in March. Vanke, the nation’s biggest publicly traded developer, cut prices for its developments in Shanghai by as much as 20 per cent in September to spur sales, according to board secretary Xiao Li.

Slowing demand has prompted some developers to offer perks such as free plane tickets and air conditioners, while others are guaranteeing refunds in the event of further price declines a tactic used by Hong Kong developers after 1997, when the city’s real estate prices slumped by 60 per cent.

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