Owing to its proximity to Shanghai, the East China city of Taicang has witnessed a second-hand housing boom in the first half of this year.

The sale of second-hand homes grew more than sixfold compared to the same period last year, Taicang Daily reported.

According to the housing and urban-rural development bureau of Taicang, the sales area of second-hand housing reached 831,900 square meters, with an increase of 62.89 percent year-on-year, compared to last year’s 510,700 square meters. The sales area of new apartments increased by 136 percent compared to the year before.

An official from the bureau said that the regional housing market started to warm up in the second half of 2015 after going through a cooling period for more than a year. The market was boosted by government support measures such as interest rate cuts, transaction tax reductions and lower down payment requirements. He forecasted that the local housing prices will continue to rise, due to a supply shortage of houses in the second half of 2016.