Home prices in most major Chinese cities continued to rise month on month in February despite government efforts to cool the property market, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Friday.

Month-on-month price declines of new commercial homes were reported only in eight cities out of the NBS' statistical pool of 70 major Chinese cities, prices stood unchanged in six cities, while 56 other cities posted monthly price gains.

As for resold housing units, home prices continued to increase in 50 major cities in February from January, only four cities reported second-hand home price declines month on month in February, according to data released by the NBS on its website.

On a year-on-year basis, prices of new homes rose in 68 out of the 70 major Chinese cities.

In the national capital Beijing where the municipal government raised the down payment requirement and banned third-home purchases, new home prices rose 0.4 percent in February from January, and 6.8 percent year on year.

In Shanghai and Chongqing, both of which have been trialing property taxes since the start of the year, new home prices went up 0.9 percent and 0.4 percent month on month, respectively.

On an annual basis, new property prices increased 2.3 percent in Shanghai, and rose 6.2 percent in Chongqing.

Beginning January this year, the NBS stopped releasing the average overall home prices for 70 major cities under a new survey method launched this year, citing reasons that the overall average price change figure for the 70 major cities failed to reflect regional differences.

The Chinese government in January raised the minimum down payment for second homes to 60 percent of the property's value from last April's 50 percent, and asked local authorities to set "reasonable" price control targets in 2011 in a bid to deter speculation.

(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2011)