Residential prices keep rising

The average price of residential property space being sold by commercial property developers has increased 18.8 percent year-on-year in the first two months to 7,030 yuan per sq m, while the average home price surged 20.6 percent to 6,637 yuan per sq m, according to the China Index Academy, a research institute attached to the country's largest real estate website, SouFun Holding Ltd.

An analyst from the institute was reported in the Guangzhou-based newspaper Southern Metropolis Daily as attributing the rises to the recent sales boom and low prices last year.

Property market sentiment has been shifting in recent weeks, with homebuyers eager to complete purchases before the execution of the latest property tightening policy, which may charge 20 percent income tax for pre-owned home sales.

"It's uncertain how long the sales boom will last because once the tightening policies become effective, the property market will face severe regulation," said an analyst at the institute.

The data also showed cities in East China recorded a higher increase rate than more than 60 percent of the home sales, suggesting major first- and second-tier cities in the region are still the major engines for property sales.