China's real estate index stood at 102.93 points in June, 1.06 points higher than in May and 0.85 points higher than a year earlier, according to official figures released on Thursday.

Residents and customers chat outside a cafe at a new property development in Beijing. China's real estate index stood at 102.93 points in June, 1.06 points higher than in May and 0.85 points higher than a year earlier. [Reuters]

The real estate index, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), is a composite index reflecting the current situation and trends in the real estate market in China.

Among the five sub-indices, including investment, source of capital, the floor space of marketable yet unsold buildings, areas of land developed, and the floor space of buildings under construction, the first three increased and the rest declined from the previous month.

For the first six months, investment in real estate hit 769.5 billion yuan (96 billion US dollars), up 24.2 percent year-on-year, the NBS report showed.

The report revealed that 1.406 billion square meters of housing space were constructed in the January-June period, up 20.9 percent year-on-year.

By the end of June, there were 121 million square meters of commercial space left unsold and vacant, up 17.2 percent year-on-year. Developed land totaled 109.73 million square meters, up 34 percent year-on-year.

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