Wuxi leads rise in global housing prices in 2017

New suburbs burgeon around Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province. [Photo/Xinhua]

China's housing prices were the fastest growing in the world in 2017, with seven out of the top 10 cities being Chinese, according to the Global House Price Index released by research firm Hurun Report in March.

Chinese cities also held 24 spots among the top 50 global cities in real estate price rises, the report noted.

Wuxi in East China's Jiangsu province was the highest-ranking Chinese city with a year-on-year price rise of 18.2 percent, slowing from 34.3 percent in 2016. The city's global rank was No.2, after Reykjavik, capital of Iceland, according to the Hurun report.

Among Chinese cities, Wuxi was followed by Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, and Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong province, with rises of 18 percent and 16.9 percent, respectively. Their global rankings were No.3 and No.5.

But overall, the rise of China's housing prices was slower than in 2016, mainly due to purchasing limits announced by the government. For example, the global rankings of first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai declined by 13 slots and 20 slots to No.23 and No.27, respectively, compared with 2016.

The report also tracked returns on Chinese investment in overseas property projects. Among the 50 cities offering the highest returns, the US led the list with 11.