Many property buyers 'delaying' their purchases

BEIJING - The series of strict measures rolled out by the authorities to rein in soaring property prices over the past month seem to have only delayed purchases by potential buyers in most urban areas, latest statistics have showed.

Housing prices in 70 large to medium-sized cities nationwide grew 12.8 percent year on year in April, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

In Beijing, property prices grew by 14.7 percent in April year on year, peaking in the past 10 months, while the total floor space sold dropped to less than 1.2 million square meters, about 41 percent less than in March, statistics from the capital's statistics bureau showed.