China October home prices rise 12.3 pct year-over-year, monthly growth slows

BEIJING (Reuters) - Average new home prices in China's 70 major cities rose 12.3 percent in October from a year earlier, accelerating from an 11.2 percent increase in September, an official survey showed on Friday.

Compared with a month earlier, home prices rose 1.1 percent, slowing from September's 2.1 percent, according to Reuters calculations from data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing prices rose 31.7 percent, 31.1 percent and 27.5 percent, respectively, from a year earlier, but their monthly pace slowed significantly as tightening measures implemented by local governments took effect. Shenzhen prices fell 0.5 percent on the month.

China has depended on a surging real estate market and government stimulus to drive growth this year, but policymakers are now concerned that property mania will fuel price bubbles and risk a market crash.

More than 20 cities introduced restrictive policies in October intended to tame fast-rising prices, causing a sharp decline in sales volume.

(Reporting by Yawen Chen and Nicholas Heath; Editing by ERic Meijer)