A sampling of seven cities in Hebei province, in May, has revealed that there was a rise in housing prices in five of them, with average prices in Shijiazhuang, the capital, at 6,054 yuan per square meter.

The China Index Institute, which released the study, reported that only two cities, Baoding and Qinhuangdao, saw a decrease in housing prices for the month, while the other five - Langfang, Shijiazhuang, Tangshan, Handan, and Hengshui -- had different increases, the highest being 1.57 percent, and the lowest, below 1 percent.

In Shijiazhuang, housing prices stayed at 6,054 yuan per sq m, an increase of 1.2 percent, putting it in the middle of major city price increases.

The province's real estate market has been stable in recent months, with prices continuing to rise in most cities, the report says, with industry insiders expecting them to continue rising moderately, in 2013.

The government has taken steps to cool down the heated real estate market, so the number of deals has decreased, but prices keep rising.

The institute compiled a list of housing price in 100 major Chinese cities that showed an average increase of 0.81 percent year-on-year, in May, and average prices of 10,180 yuan per sq m.