Warnings from the central government that more measures may be needed to curb soaring property prices have failed to slow home-buying demand or halt land acquisitions by developers.

Shanghai-based Glorious Property Holdings said at the weekend it had acquired two residential-commercial sites in Nantong, Jiangsu province, for a total of 4.14 billion yuan (HK$4.7 billion).

The average prices for the sites, about an hour's drive from Shanghai, were 3,200 yuan and 6,067 yuan per square metre respectively. The first site is 115,069 square metres and the second is 244,524 sq metres.

Meanwhile, Guangzhou-based Evergrande Real Estate Group said at the weekend it sold more than one billion yuan worth of homes on New Year's Day alone, and rival Guangzhou R&F Properties also said it recorded contract sales of 1.64 billion yuan last month.

South China Morning Post