Prices of both new and existing homes continued to rise in most Chinese cities in August, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Of a statistical pool of 70 major Chinese cities, 66 saw a month-on-month rise in new home prices, up from 62 in July and 58 cities reported month-on-month price gains in resold homes in August, compared to 57 in July.

On a year-on-year basis, new home prices rose in 69 cities last month, the same as the July figure, while 68 reported higher year-on-year prices for resold homes in August, up from 67.

The data cover the nation's large and medium-sized cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, provincial capitals, and others.

Runaway home prices led the government to issue guidelines in March to tighten control of the real estate sector, including higher transaction taxes, restrictions on purchases of multiple homes and higher down payments, but the policies failed to arrest the surge.