According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, average property prices in China's 70 major cities last year swelled 7.6 percent year-on-year. House rentals rose by 2.6 percent. The statistics also showed that property investment in these cities totaled 2.528 trillion yuan (US$356.06 billion), up 30.2 percent year-on-year.
As a result, there are more billionaires in real estate than any other industries, and property tycoons become the darlings of major fortune rankings. Although housing prices seemed to ease a bit following the adoption of a series of tightening measures since the end of last year, huge industry profits are far from waning.
