Housing prices increased by 25 percent

BEIJING - The year-on-year rise of China's housing prices hit a historic high of 25 percent last year, according to a report released by the China Land Survey and Planning Institution.

The report showed the country's average housing price reached 4,474 yuan ($658) per square meter in 2009, while the residential land price rose to 3,824 yuan per sq m the same year, with a year-on-year increase of nearly 8 percent.

The reported housing price increase, the highest since 2001, was dramatically different from previous data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, which reported that the housing prices in 70 medium- and large-sized cities and municipalities increased about 1.5 percent in 2009 over the previous year, hitting a five-year low.