Models of residential properties at a showroom in Nantong, Jiangsu province. Prices in 29 cities increased mildly in November, and in 44 cities in December, against just 14 cities in October, signaling that property prices have bottomed out, said the National Bureau of Statistics. [Photo / China Daily]

China's property prices will continue to rise in 2013, fueled by tighter supply, quickening urbanization and an improved economy, according to the latest report on the market.

Figures from REICO, the research institution jointly created by the China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce and the China Urban Reality Association Fund, suggest the country's housing inventory will be lower than that of 2012, due to a slide in new construction since the third quarter of 2011 and quickening sales last year.

New home building in Beijing was down 24.1 percent, and in Shanghai, 26.9 percent, year-on-year in 2012, according to REICO, meaning that shrinking supplies and robust sales have strengthened market expectations of further price hikes in 2013.

However, in some second- and third-tier cities such as Xining, Guiyang and Sanya, new construction was boosted by more than half last year, REICO said.

"The country's property prices will pick up steadily this year, but a strong rebound across the country is unlikely given rigorous measures still in force," said Liu Lin, one of the authors of the REICO report.

According to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics, property prices in the majority of China's 70 major cities have reversed their downward trend since November 2012.

Prices in 29 cities increased mildly in November, and in 44 cities in December, against just 14 cities in October, signaling that property prices have bottomed out, said the bureau.

Century 21st, the real estate agency, told China Daily that its sales of both new and pre-owned homes have been strengthening since May 2011, and the trend has continued into 2013, with sales of pre-owned homes in Beijing likely to reach a 24-month high in January.

The latest statistics from the Beijing housing authorities show that 17,723 pre-owned homes had been sold by Jan 27, a 3.5 percent rise on the same period in December, and that transactions in December had reached a 23-month high.

Zhang Lei, an analyst with Century 21st, said more individual buyers, expecting another price increase, had recently piled into the market, transforming what is traditionally considered a flat season into a "hot" one.

Property lending accelerates in Q4: PBOC 

Nation to guard against land abuses

Property market won't rise sharply: analyst

Rise in home prices recorded in most cities

Housing market still a sensitive social issue

China's property investment up 16.2% in 2012