China's home prices up in March: official data

Major Chinese cities generally reported rising home prices last month, indicating a steady recovery of the country's property market, official data showed Saturday.

In March, 64 out of 70 large and medium-sized cities saw month-on-month increases in new home prices, up from 55 in February, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Meanwhile, 57 cities witnessed higher resale home prices, up from 40 in February.

New home prices in four first-tier cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou – went up 0.3 percent in March, compared with a 0.2-percent growth in February.

In 31 second-tier cities, prices of new homes gained 0.6 percent, picking up pace from the 0.4-percent increase a month earlier. New housing in 35 third-tier cities saw prices up 0.3 percent, the same growth rate with February.

Encouraging signs were also seen in the second-hand market as prices went up 0.5 percent and 0.3 percent month on month in first and second-tier cities, respectively, while a 0.2-increase was registered in third-tier cities.