Property prices in China's 70 major cities climbed 7.8 percent in December from a year earlier, the fastest pace in 18 months, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on January 14.

It is also the seventh consecutive price increase since July 2009, and the growth rate is 2.1 percentage points higher than November, according to the NDRC. Except Tangshan in Hebei province, the other 69 cities all saw a year-on-year price increase for new properties, led by Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Haikou and Beijing,

"Despite the government's intensive launch of tightening policies, I don't expect a decline in prices in the first half of 2010, as property developers still have plenty of money on hand," said Carlby Xie, associate director at Colliers' North China division. "Considering the existing supply and demand, property prices may still grow four to five percent by the end of 2010."

Fearing the soaring property price may lead to an asset bubble and hurt the country's economy, the central government has launched a slew of measures, including tightening credit for second property buyers and more supply of affordable houses for low and medium-income families.

"The objective of these policies is to rein in speculation while maintaining economic growth," said William Kwok, director of Cheung Kong Real Estate Limited.

According to Kwok, China's property price is very likely to stabilize in 2010 after a strong-than-expected rebound last year. "In cities where the price has soared more than 50 percent in 2009, a price adjustment may occur but a tumble is not likely to happen, given the still robust demand and further recovery of the economy," he said.

Along with skyrocketing property prices are falling transaction volumes, as more buyers take a wait-and-see attitude. During the first week after the New Year's Day holiday, property sales in Shanghai were more than halved from the same period last year, while Beijing's were down nearly 60 percent, according to local real estate transaction websites.

Though transaction volumes may drop further after the launch of tightening policies, prices will probably remain firm as "property developers have a low inventory of apartments left now after record high sales last year," said Nie Meisheng, director of the China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce.

According to statistics from Soufun, the country's largest real estate portal, the average sales price of new apartments in Beijing in January climbed 6.5 percent month-on-month to almost 22,000 yuan per sq m.