Home prices in major Chinese cities continued to rise in October despite the government's persistent efforts to cool the property market.

Of a statistical pool of 70 major Chinese cities, 65 saw month-on-month rises in new home prices in October, while 62 reported price gains in existing and second-hand homes, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced on November 18.

On a yearly basis, all cities except Wenzhou reported gains in new home prices.

First-tier cities continued to lead rises in October, with the prices of new homes in Beijing and Shanghai surging nearly 20 percent from a year ago, while prices in most second- and third-tier cities expanded at a more tempered pace, according to the NBS, which attributed the drastic growth partly to a low comparison base.

Driven by rapid urbanization and speculation, China's property market has taken off in recent years and become a major problem for authorities as more people are priced out of the market.