China's home prices continue to rise

Citizens visit a real estate fair in east China's Shanghai Municipality, Oct. 3, 2013. (File Photo: Xinhua/Lai Xinlin)

Prices of both new and existing homes continued to rise in most Chinese cities in September, according to official data released on Tuesday.

Of a statistical pool of 70 major Chinese cities, 65 saw a month-on-month rise in the cost of new homes, down from 66 in August, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

According to the bureau, 63 cities reported month-on-month price gains in existing and second-hand homes in September, compared to 58 in August.

On a year-on-year basis, the cost of new homes rose in 69 cities last month, the same as the August figure, while 68 reported higher year-on-year prices for existing homes last month, also the same as the August number.

Growth rates in first-tier cities were significantly higher compared to second- and third-tier cities. New home prices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen rose by an average 1.4 percent month on month while those in 35 third-tier cities rose by 0.6 percent on average, according to the data.

The data covers the country's large and medium-sized cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, provincial capitals and other cities.