Home prices in China gained for the 18th consecutive month in November although the pace of growth moderated.

The average price of new residential properties in 100 cities across the country climbed 0.68 percent from October to 10,758 yuan (US$1,764) per square meter, the China Index Academy said yesterday.

That compared to a growth of 1.24 percent in October and 1.07 percent in September.

“While the upward trend remained unchanged for the 18th straight month, November’s pace was also the lowest registered this year,” the academy said.

“The continuous decrease in cities registering month-on-month growth indicated that rapid price increases have been restrained across the country as a number of cities have introduced further tightening policies which therefore have left some impact over buyers’ expectations.”

Nationwide, 69 cities saw monthly price increases, down from 75 in October and 79 in September. Of those, 28 registered growth of more than 1 percent, compared to 29 in October.