THE buying sentiment for high-end residential projects continued to climb in Shanghai last month as more home buyers regained their confidence as the market recovered gradually.

A total of 672 units of new apartments, costing more than 30,000 yuan (US$4,392) per square meter, were sold in the city last month, an increase of 44 percent from March, according to the latest research by E-House (China) Holdings Ltd.

Maison des Artistes, a high-end residential project located in the Gubei area, could be a good example. The project, developed by Hutchison Whampoa, sold 56 units last month compared to 46 units in March and 11 units in February. Regency Park, another luxury residential project in Pudong's Huamu area and developed by the same company, also saw extremely good sales recently.

E-House statistics showed that 24 townhouses, priced between 13 million yuan and 15 million yuan each, were sold out in just three days after they were launched on April 25.

Meanwhile, a similar trend was seen in the local second-hand market in which more contracts involving luxury apartments were concluded during the period.

"Deals of 5 million yuan and above were secured last month at our branches, particularly in prime locations such as Xintiandi and Biyun where nearly half of the deals reached last month were in that category," said Ma Ji, head of research at Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Ltd, which operates the city's largest real estate brokerage chain. "And we expect the strong momentum to ride through May."

The transaction volume of used apartments priced between 30,000 yuan and 40,000 yuan per square meter jumped more than 50 percent in March at Centaline, according to earlier statistics.