Shenzhen's property prices have dropped significantly after the government initiated several measures to crack down on property speculation, and promised to sell more land Nov. 14 and 15.

New apartments were sold at an average price of 9,083 yuan (US$1,120) per square meter last week, down 17 percent from a week ago, according to the official Web site of the local bureau of land resources and housing management.

The total floor area of apartments sold last week -- 148,000 square meters -- also dropped 31.9 percent in the same period. Some analysts say the government's new measures to curb property speculation are taking effect. But others say that the figures from two weeks cannot accurately reflect the change in house prices.

The number of new apartments sold last week was 1,520, down 22.8 percent from the week before last. Nanshan saw the biggest drop in all six districts, a plunge of 81.4 percent.

The land bureau promulgated four regulations after Shenzhen's property prices in the first 10 months of this year were found to be 13.4 percent more than the same period last year.

The regulations prohibit selling houses in piecemeal, selling second-hand houses without property ownership certificates, and changing sales contracts without a good reason.

The bureau also promised to sell 1.6 square kilometers of land annually to real estate developers in the next few years, an increase over the current one square kilometer of land sold each year.

Editor: Donald