A growing gap between supply and demand for second-hand homes in Shanghai pushed up the average price of used apartments last month while the transaction volume remained stable, two real estate brokerages said yesterday.

Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Ltd, which operates the city's largest brokerage chain, said used homes prices climbed 4.3 percent to 16,831 yuan (US$2,464) per square meter on average last month at its more than 150 branches.

Homes with a price tag of more than 1.2 million yuan jumped for the first time to more than 50 percent of total transactions during the period, compared with 38 percent in January, Centaline said.

"Demand has risen among families looking to upgrade their homes, and among investors as supply dropped after the sales boom in the past few months," said Ma Ji, head of research at Shanghai Centaline.

According to the company, the supply of used homes in the second quarter plunged 30 percent from the first quarter in Zhabei, Changning, Jing'an and Pudong, where used apartment sales are most active.

Meanwhile, Century 21 China Real Estate, which runs the city's second-largest brokerage chain, said the prices of used homes climbed last month.

Transactions in used apartments priced below 1.2 million yuan fell to 41.6 percent of total deals at Century 21 outlets last month, the lowest in nearly a year, while those between 2 million yuan and 5 million yuan jumped to 23 percent of the total, the highest in the past 12 months, Century 21 statistics showed.

"Month-on-month price increases of 5 to 10 percent were seen frequently in popular residential developments, especially those around the Outer Ring Road," said Huang Hetao, a researcher at Century 21.