China home prices soar in Feb

Beijing

CHINA'S home prices rose at their fastest clip in almost two years in February thanks to red-hot demand in big cities, but risks of overheating in some places combined with weak growth in smaller cities threaten to put more stress on an already slowing economy.

Average new home prices in 70 major cities climbed 3.6 per cent in February from a year ago, quickening from January's 2.5 per cent rise, according to Reuters calculations based on data released by the National Statistics Bureau (NBS) on Friday.