Poly Real Estate Group Co, China's second-largest developer by market value, said sales in the first nine months of the year more than doubled as Chinese consumers poured money into real estate.

The Guangzhou-based company reported sales of 12 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) from January to September, a gain of 108 percent over a year earlier, according to a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange at the weekend. Sales rose 75 percent in terms of area to 1.49 million square meters, Bloomberg News said.

China's real estate prices have surged even as the government seeks to cool investment in property, fearing a speculative bubble. With rising inflation making low-yielding bank deposits less attractive, households have shifted savings into stocks and real estate.

Property prices climbed 21 percent in Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province and 12 percent in Beijing in August from a year earlier. Home prices in 70 major cities gained 8.2 percent from a year earlier.

The firm sold 220,800 square meters of property for 1.61 billion yuan last month, according to the statement.

Poly said on August 20 that first-half net income jumped 25 percent to 277.8 million yuan.

(Shanghai Daily October 15, 2007)