Beijing, May 8 (IANS) Land prices in major Chinese cities continued to rise in the first quarter of 2012 but at a slower pace as the national economy headed for a soft landing and government restrictions hit the property market, the latest official figures show.
The average land price in 105 major Chinese cities monitored by the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) reached 3,057 yuan ($485) per square metre in the first quarter, up 3.53 percent year on year and 0.26 percent higher than in the previous quarter, the ministry said in a statement Tuesday.
The increases were slower than the 5.94-percent year-on-year growth and 0.29-percent quarter-on-quarter rise registered in the fourth quarter of 2011, reported Xinhua.
Land for residential use was priced at an average of 4,516 yuan per square metre in the first quarter, down 0.04 percent from the previous quarter, marking the first such decline since the second quarter of 2009, the ministry said.
In the first three months, land supplies for construction surged 33.6 percent year on year to 114,400 hectares, but that for property development slumped 18 percent year on year, the ministry added.
