China's average commercial housing price stood at 2,777 yuan (US$335) per square meter in the first nine months this year, up 13 percent year-on-year, a report from the State Statistical Bureau said Monday.

The growth rate is 0.5 percentage points lower than the January- August period, the report noted.

The average housing price for commercial residences stood at 2, 566 yuan (US$309) per square meter, an increase of 10.9 percent, or 0.3 percentage points lower than the growth rate of the January-August period.

Under the macro-control policy, property investment amounted to 835.7 billion yuan (some US$100 billion) in the first three quarters, a rise of 28.3 percent, or 0.5 percentage points lower than the first eight months of this year.

By the end of September, the empty floor space of commercial housing shrank by 2.3 percent year-on-year to 97.48 million square meters. Vacant commercial residence space decreased by 11.4 percent, but the empty floor space of commercial housing for office and business went up by 0.1 percent and 20.3 percent respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2004)