The Beijing real estate market continues to boom this year, despite the slightly higher prices of commercial buildings.

The municipal Statistics Bureau says that sales reached over 10 million square meters in the first nine months, an increase of 25 percent over the same period last year.

Average prices of commercial buildings rose nearly three percent, housing by 3.5 percent, and land prices by just over two percent.

The bureau attributes the increased prices to the limited land available in the city and more expensive building materials.

(CRI October 15, 2004)