BEIJING, Aug. 17 - Property prices in the country's 70 large and medium cities rose by 7.5 percent year-on-year last month, the National Development and Reform Commission said yesterday.

The growth rate is the highest since 2006 - and 4 percentage points higher than that of June, which also saw accelerated growth.

Beihai, Shenzhen, Nanning, Urumqi and Beijing led the way on price increases, with rates of 18.6 percent, 16.1 percent, 12 percent, 12 percent and 11.6 percent respectively.

It's the first time this year Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, was on the property price hike list.

Beihai, a small city at the southern end of South China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, has been at the top of the list for five months in a row, reflecting strong growth in second- and third-tier cities.

But summer is typically a peak time for housing deals, according to Anna M Kalifa, head of research at Jones Lang LaSalle Beijing.

"June and July are generally key times for property deals, not only in China, but also for the world," said Kalifa.

She said China's property prices would continue to grow in the next six months, but at a slower pace.

"We expect property prices to grow by around 8 to 8.5 percent from January this year to January 2008, but we've seen most of that growth already".

Prices for pre-owned houses jumped by 7.3 percent last month.

That was 0.5 of a percentage point lower than May. Shenzhen still tops the list in terms of price rises, with a growth rate of 21.4 percent.

(Source: China Daily)