The index of the real estate market, released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Friday, dropped to 104.9 points in November, 0.25 points lower than the previous month.

The NBS said investment in real estate development declined during the first 11 months of the year, while sales in the real estate sector grew robust.

NBS figures showed that the total area of newly started projects increased 19.1 percent year-on-year from January to November. Total investment in real estate was 628.8 billion yuan (US$75.9 billion), an increase of 28.2 percent over the same period last year.

The NBS said the November index appeared to be the third highest in the year. The areas of newly completed projects soared 28.3 percent year-on-year, 10.7 percentage points faster than the comparable growth rate one year ago.

In the meantime, stockpiles of unsold real estate climbed 12.6 percent. The areas of land development and land transactions rocketed up 35.2 percent and 45.3 percent respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency December 21, 2002)