China's national property climate index, which reflects overall conditions in the sector, rose 0.61 percent to 96.55 last month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Monday.

It is the third consecutive month, since April, that the index has seen month-on-month growth, suggesting a rebound in the sector. The index had been falling since it peaked at 106.59 in November 2007.

The index includes a package of figures used to measure investments, sales and land under development. A reading of above 100 is positive while one below that level indicates weak conditions.

Real estate investment nationwide rose by 9.9 percent in the first half from the same period last year, and the growth rate was 3.1 percentage points higher than the January-May level, said NBS.

Commercial home sales rose 31.7 percent by acreage year on year in the first six months, 6.2 percentage points higher than the January-May level.

Home prices in 70 large and medium-sized Chinese cities rose 0.8 percent in June from May, up for the fourth straight month, according to NBS. In Beijing, housing prices rose 0.4 percent month on month in June.

The Ministry of Land and Resources said Monday that China's land supply in the first half of this year rose 12.6 percent year on year to 95,373 hectares nationwide due to a series of government measures and investment projects to buoy the economy.

Land supply for affordable home building jumped 33.3 percent to 3,390 hectares in the first six months this year across the country, revealing the government's efforts to help the low-income urban dwellers to solve housing problems, said the ministry.

The government unveiled a 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package in November last year to be spent over the next two years to shore up the world's third largest economy.

(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2009)