Rental prices are falling, yes, but where exactly?
Shanghai’s market is a truly funny (ironic) place.
The Market has followed the global downwards trend lately, more leases are broken by leaving expatriates and those whose companies just can’t afford it anymore.
From my observation the places hit the hardest are the Qingpu, Pudong and Gubei Villa areas.
My theory is that this is mainly related to which industries have been hit the hardest in the probably first contraction of the global economy in about a century.
You have to know the demographics of the expats staying in these areas, they’re mainly families (whose packages tend to be higher) with the working part of the houshold being in the manufacturing industry.
With the global demand for chinese exports diminishing the need for qualified “overseers” is too.
Companies are cutting down the workforce and shutting down factories and quality control centers.
The communities in the villa areas of Qingpu, Gubei and Pudong area built along these factories and therefore are more vulnerable to the kind of downturn we experience at the moment.
Downtown isn’t exactly immune to it, but so far it has weathered the crisis far better than other spots in the city.
There is a lot of people out there looking for deals, and trust me, there area lots.
But these deals tend to be in the smaller property range (usually 1 bedrooms) of which are more available.
There is a strange drought on historic places that are larger than 2 bedrooms and baths.
A lack of supply we didn’t even expect in the best of times.
I think this is because the companies and expatriates working in the industries directly related to chinas internal economy are still doing well.
Or are at least not experiencing a signifacnt fall in sales and profits.
As more chinese who are also affected by the export downturn are starting to cut down on spending and become more frugal this might change though.
You can already tell by the many empty shops in the downtown area that aren’t picked up as fast anymore that people are struggling here too.
Time will tell, and Shrealestate is here to document it 
Stay Tuned