In Shanghai, Lai Fung Holdings, a Hong Kong-listed property developer and investment arm of the Lai Sun Group on the Chinese mainland, offered 577 million yuan for the land plot at Wuliqiao Street in downtown Huangpu District, with a premium rate of 62.54 percent from the starting price 355 million yuan.

The floor price of the 6,885 sq m plot near Huangpu River reached 85,810 yuan per sq m, breaking the former record of 73,099 yuan recorded in Beijing last year.

According to conditions in the pre-sale contract, development of the Wuliqiao plot should start within a year after delivery and finish within three years, which means sales of the apartment sitting on the plot should start no later than 2018.

However, Song Huiyong, a Shanghai-based property market researcher with Centaline Group, said that the project may face selling pressures as the floor price has deviated from the market, because housing prices in the neighboring areas are at relatively low levels.

"The floor price of above 80,000 yuan per sq m means the sales price must be higher than 100,000 yuan per sq m, which will be a tough goal for this area, especially with a possible downturn in housing prices," he said, explaining that the average price of nearby new apartments is between 50,000 and 60,000 yuan per sq m at the moment.

Zhang Hongwei, research head of Tospur Consulting, was more optimistic. "The scarcity of riverside plots has decided the high-end quality of the Wuliqiao project," he said.

"The plot will not only complement the limitations of high-end property development in the Lujiazui area but also inject vigor into the entire area along Huangpu River.

"We will witness the birth of another luxurious project with sky-high prices," Zhang said.

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