Night scene of Hangzhou (Photo/Shetuwang)

May 6 (NBD) -- Around 3.4 million tourists visited Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province, during the four-day May Day holiday. Of them, over 2.5 million flocked to West Lake, the most famous attraction of the city. 

Compared with the crowded scene at the scenic spot, the housing market of Hangzhou was pretty gloomy during the holiday. Data shows only 384 new houses were sold between May 1 and 3, hitting the city's record low during the same period in five years. 

National Business Daily noticed this constitutes a stark contrast with the rising trend in the past two months. 

In April, the city sold 12,955 new houses, up 32.2 percent from a year ago, and in March, nearly 10,000 new houses and more than 8,000 second-hand houses were sold, primarily driven by a swathe of factors including the rise of land premium rate and drop in first-house mortgage rate. 

Seeing the recovery in the housing sector, some held that Hangzhou might soon lift the per-square-meter price ceiling. Real estate developers thus were waiting for the opportune moment to bring new residential projects to market. 

Their hopes, however, crumbled away soon. "The price ceiling will remain in place, and it would be better for property firms to cast away their illusions," a source close to local authorities said in mid-April.

According to statistics of hangzhou.com.cn, over 50 new residential projects will be available for trading in May, much more than the figure for March and April. Despite the bleak sales in early May, housing sales might pick up momentum in the rest part of the month. 

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn