Property prices in 70 of China's large and medium-sized cities rose 0.3% in December from the previous month, and were up 6.4% from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday.
December was the fourth consecutive month in which property prices rose from the previous month, following increases of 0.3% in November, 0.2% in October and 0.5% in September.
Property prices remain high despite the government's efforts to cool the market. Measures introduced last year include higher down-payment requirements for first-time buyers and multiple hikes in banks' reserve requirement rates to curb excessive bank lending. Local governments have also imposed their own limits on home purchases.
December's year-on-year rise was the 19th consecutive increase, but was below November's 7.7% rise. It was the eighth straight month of slower year-on-year growth since April's record 12.8% increase, the statistics bureau said.
Investment in urban property development in China rose 33.2% in 2010 to 4.83 trillion yuan (US$733 billion), the statistics bureau said.
New property construction rose 40.7% to 1.64 billion square meters in 2010, the bureau said.
