Construction land increased 9.2% from Jan to Sept

Land for construction across China has grown to 440,600 hectares from January to September, up 9.2 percent year-on-year, but land for real estate was about 12.5 percent less than in the same period in 2011, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources.

The area of land for infrastructure construction surged this year, up 36.1 percent compared with the first three quarters of last year.

Although tight policies have been implemented to control housing prices, the decrease in land supply for the property industry may make the policies less effective.

Housing prices in 31 cities of the 70 monitored increased in September compared with August, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The investment in the property industry grew in the first three quarters and reached a total of more than 5 trillion yuan ($800 billion), up 16 percent year-on-year.