Shanghai’s new build sector saw transaction volumes plunge by nearly 50% from the previous seven-day period, latest market data suggested.

Sales of new residential properties, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, dropped 49.6% to 163,000sqm last week, Shanghai Uwin Real Estate Information Services Co said in its latest report.

“It was a sharp contrast to what was registered in December, which was the most robust month in 2014 in terms of sales,” said Huang Zhijian, chief analyst at Uwin. “If this slack momentum continues, then the monthly volume of January will be less than half of what was achieved in December last year.”

By cost, new homes sold last week averaged 26,820 Yuan (£2,885sqm), a week-over-week drop of 11.7%, Uwin data showed.

On the supply side, about 168,100sqm of new housing were released to the market, little changed from the previous week, Uwin data showed.