Urban home price measures will continue

China will continue controls on the property market in 2014 by strictly implementing tightening measures in cities facing big rises in home prices, while increasing the amount of available land and affordable housing, Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday citing the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD).

The country plans to start construction of more than 6 million affordable housing units and complete the construction of 4.8 million units next year, Jiang Weixin, minister of MOHURD, said at a national work conference.

China built 4.7 million affordable housing units and started construction of 6.3 million units in 2013, according to the ministry's statistics.

Jiang said China will increase the supplies of land and affordable housing next year and ensure the better implementation of current policies to contain soaring housing prices in some major cities.

Jiang's statement came after the latest official data showed the price of homes in large Chinese cities rose at the quickest annual pace on record in November, despite recent cooling measures in cities.

All but one of 70 major cities reported gains in new home prices last month. Twenty-six cities posted an annual increase of 10 percent or higher, with only Wenzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province witnessing falling prices.

Cities including Beijing, Shenzhen and Nanjing have announced a series of measures such as requiring higher minimum down-payments from second-home buyers.