Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd, the mainland's second-largest developer by sales, said on Wednesday it has completed 86 percent of its full-year sales target as of August, driven by buoyant demand in second and third-tier cities.

The Hong Kong-listed developer achieved contracted sales of 9.10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in August 2011, up 105.0 percent from 4.44 billion yuan a year earlier. It also grew 4.8 percent month-on-month from sales of 8.68 billion yuan it registered in July.

Evergrande's sales for the first eight months totaled 60.1 billion yuan, leaving less than 10 billion yuan to achieve its full-year sales target of 70 billion yuan in 2011, Chief Executive Officer Xia Haijun said in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

"The 70-billion-yuan full-year sales target is very likely to be completed in October as we are very optimistic about the week-long holiday sales next month," said Xia.

Evergrande were one of the few large developers on the mainland less affected by the government's efforts to quell the hot property market in first-tier cities as 38 percent of its projects are in second-tier cities while 60 percent are in third-tier cities.

However, the central government this year has extended restrictions on house purchases in more second- and third-tier cities that have witnessed excessive property price growth.

Commercial banks in many of these places have raised downpayment requirements and in some cases have halted individual property loans altogether.

However, strong demand and relatively cheaper home prices in these cities has helped the group sustain its growth, Xia said, adding that 38 out of its 95 on-sale projects in the first eight months have been affected by the government measures while these projects have contributed some 51 percent of the group turnover for the period.

Average selling prices stood at 6,267 yuan per square meters in August, compared with 6,327 yuan a year earlier and 6,719 yuan for the first eight months.

A Credit Suisse Group report dated Wednesday estimated that the volume of housing transactions on the mainland will probably decline in the second half due to further monetary-policy tightening measures and a surge in housing supply.

Shares of Evergrande tumbled HK$0.23 or 6.17 percent to close at HK$3.5 on Wednesday.

litao@chinadailyhk.com