By Dai Yan (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-09-12 17:24

Property prices in China's 70 large and medium-sized cities rose 8.2 percent year-on-year in August, the fastest monthly increase this year, according to statistics from the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics.

The growth rate was 0.7 percentage points higher than that of July. The prices were up 1.4 percent from July, 0.2 percentage points higher compared with the growth from the previous month.

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In August, prices for newly built residential houses rose nine percent from a year earlier, up from 8.1 percent in July, and 1.5 percent over the pervious month, compared with 1.3 percent in July.

Prices for affordable, ordinary and high-end houses increased by 3.1, 9.3 and 10 percent respectively year-on-year, and 0.7, 1.6 and 1.7 percent respectively from July.

Beihai, a small city at the southern end of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, posted the fastest year-on-year price growth of 18.2 percent for new houses among the cities. It was followed by Shenzhen, where prices rose 17.6 percent, and Urumqi, 15.5 percent, Beijing, 13.5 percent and Bengpu, 11.1 percent.

Cities with the fastest month-on-month new house price increases included Hangzhou, 4.7 percent, Urumqi, four percent, Dali, 2.8 percent, Shijiazhuang, 2.5 percent, Kunming, 1.7 percent, Shanghai, 1.6 percent and Shenzhen, 1.5 percent.

Prices of second-hand houses rose 7.9 percent year-on-year in August, up from 7.3 percent in July. The prices were up two percent from July. Shenzhen posted a 22 percent rise year-on-year, the fastest among the 70 cities. It was followed by Beijing, 10.6 percent, Zhengzhou, 10 percent, Mudanjiang, 9.5 percent, Ningbo, 9.3 percent and Urumqi, 9.2 percent.

Among the cities that posted the fastest increase compared with July were Zhengzhou, 5.9 percent, Shenyang, 5.2 percent, Urumqi, 3.7 percent, Mudanjiang, 3.7 percent, Changchun, 3.4 percent and Nanchang, 2.8 percent.

Non-residential property prices were up 6.2 percent from a year earlier in August, 0.2 percentage points higher over the increase in July. The prices rose 0.5 percent compared with July.

Prices for office buildings, amusement and industrial warehousing properties increased 6.5, 7.4 and 6.1 percent respectively year-on-year.