After both parties signed and confirmed the documents, completing the final transaction transfer before the holiday, Li Xiaoyi, having worked busily throughout the year, prepared to take a break. However, February 11th held a slightly different significance for him. After seeing off his clients, he took a number again and walked directly to window 30, where he collected his own property ownership certificate. "Every other time I've come here, it was to collect certificates for clients. Today, I got my own property deed. I'm quite happy!" Li Xiaoyi is the manager of a Century 21 real estate branch in Shanghai's Yangpu District. Reflecting on the past year, Li Xiaoyi noted with emotion that most of the transactions involved older housing estates, with prices almost slashed compared to their peak levels, leading to a corresponding discount in agent income. However, the data and market performance over the last three consecutive months have filled him with hope for the upcoming "Golden March and Silver April" period. According to data from Shanghai Centaline Property, in January 2026, 20,300 second-hand residential units were transacted in Shanghai, a slight decrease of 0.38% month-on-month but an increase of 26.69% year-on-year, indicating a warm winter for the secondary market. As a veteran in the real estate agency industry, Li Xiaoyi also purchased a large new apartment in 2022. Despite the significant adjustments in the property market in recent years, his family had already moved into their new home and started a new life; faced with the need for owner-occupation, the topic of price fluctuations is seldom brought up. Discussing the market changes over the past two years, Li Xiaoyi gave an example: one of his clients bought their first home in 2018. Although the price drop in the last two years resulted in a loss of nearly one million yuan, the second-hand market had genuinely "fallen to a point of good value," prompting the client to decide to buy another property. The purchase price for this second home was nearly two million yuan lower than the peak price. "So, whether price changes are bad or good sometimes really needs to be viewed dialectically," Li Xiaoyi said. The year-end and beginning of the year are traditionally off-seasons for the property market, but 2025 proved to be an exception, with activity remaining strong. In the final two months, hesitant buyers accelerated their pace. Real estate transaction centers across Shanghai's districts were consistently crowded, and transaction data continued to climb. A Ms. Liu, who had been continuously viewing properties, suddenly purchased her first home just before New Year's Day 2026 and completed the transfer in January. On the day she handled the transfer, she remarked, "Getting the certificate on a weekend, the transaction center was packed with people; there was no sign of the traditional off-season at all." On the afternoon of February 11, the Yangpu District Real Estate Transaction Center in Shanghai was still bustling. During a weekday visit to the Pudong New Area Real Estate Transaction Center, it was observed that people continuously approached the information desk for inquiries. Before 4 p.m., the number of people who had handled various services had already exceeded 900. As the Spring Festival approached, the Yangpu District Real Estate Transaction Center was similarly lively, with business being conducted at every window, and a constant stream of people waiting at the information desk and waiting area. According to Shanghai Centaline Property's statistics of daily transaction data from the "Online Real Estate" platform, on weekdays in January 2026, the daily transaction volume for second-hand homes in Shanghai remained above 500 units, while on weekends, the single-day volume could exceed 1,000 units. Alongside active transactions, the total number of second-hand listings in Shanghai continued to shrink. In some weeks in January, new listings were only slightly over 3,000 units and were digested particularly quickly. Starting from mid-December 2025, the Centaline Property Listing Price Index has rebounded continuously. In other words, sellers' expectations have begun to shift, and cases of significant price cuts to "dump" properties have become rare in the last two months. Not only have drastic price cuts decreased, but the market has also seen increased difficulty in negotiating lower prices. "Compared to before, bargaining isn't as easy now, but the properties that actually transact are those with relatively high cost-effectiveness," Li Xiaoyi admitted. "At the same time, many landlords are withdrawing their listings. With prices falling to the current level, many landlords feel it's not worthwhile to sell. Many of them have relatively high expectations for the future market, believing prices will rise, so they simply decide not to sell," Li Xiaoyi said. "At the very least, they believe there might be a better market after the Spring Festival." According to Centaline data, the Shanghai second-hand market in January continued its pattern of active transactions in the low total-price segment. Budget-friendly homes priced within 3 million yuan accounted for 68.92% of transactions. Although this was a slight decrease of 2 percentage points from the previous period, it remained high. In fact, over the last two months, prices for such properties have tended to stabilize, showing clear signs of bottoming out. In some individual residential complexes, listing prices have even seen slight increases, indicating a significant improvement in market sentiment compared to previous bearish expectations. An agent specializing in budget second-hand homes in Shanghai's outer suburbs, known as "Brother Wuqian," communicated via WeChat that "difficulty in bargaining" mainly occurs in popular complexes. In Fengxian, for instance, a single property might have seven or eight groups of clients negotiating simultaneously. Although the seller is sincere about selling, if the buyer insists on a large price reduction, an agreement often cannot be reached. "Recently, it's the sellers who are less anxious, while the buyers are more urgent. Why? Those buying now are genuine rigid demand—for marriage, children's schooling, etc." "By March, buyers will enter the market collectively. For some popular complexes, especially those with only two or three cost-effective units available, the properties might sell out quickly. A 'small spring' in the market is definitely something to look forward to," "Brother Wuqian" stated. Li Xiaoyi also believes: "The coming March and April are crucial. If the momentum is strong, it could have a positive driving effect on some potential homebuyers." Lu Wenxi, a market analyst at Shanghai Centaline Property, stated that maintaining the current transaction scale in March and April should not be a problem. If the market can continue to stabilize in May and June, it would serve as a further booster shot for market confidence.