SALES of new homes in Shanghai climbed over 5 percent in July for the third straight month despite the extremely hot weather while the average price also rose to a monthly record.

The area of new homes sold, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, continued to rise for the third month in a row by 5.2 percent from June to 1.31 million square meters, Shanghai Homelink Real Estate Agency Co said in a report released yesterday. The new homes were sold for an average 37,319 yuan (US$5,614) per square meter, a monthly record in Shanghai and up 1.6 percent from June, according to Homelink data.