[BEIJING] Growth in China's real estate investment slowed to 10.5 per cent in 2014 from a year earlier, while revenues from property sales dropped 6.3 per cent on an annual basis, as the weakening housing sector increasingly dragged on economic growth.

The rise in investment, reported by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday, compared with an increase of 11.9 per cent in the first 11 months of 2014. The drop in sales revenue for January to November was 7.8 per cent.

The investment and revenue data follows data on Sunday showing new home prices in December fell an average 4.3 per cent year-on-year in 68 of the 70 major cities the NBS monitors.

China's real estate market has been plagued by falling prices and high inventories in recent months, crimping demand in 40 related economic sectors ranging from steel to cement to furniture.

The world's second-largest economy grew 7.4 per cent in the whole of 2014, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday, undershooting the government's 7.5 per cent target and marking the weakest expansion in 24 years, further clouding the picture for global demand.

REUTERS