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BEIJING, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Loans to China's real estate sector continued to grow at a slower pace in September as government purchase restrictions remain in place in major cities, data from the central bank showed Friday.

By the end of last month, financial institutions in China had lent 31.1 trillion yuan (4.7 trillion U.S. dollars) to the property sector, up 22.8 percent year on year, according to a report from the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

The growth was 1.4 percentage points lower than the rate seen by the end of June.

Outstanding loans for individual purchases went up 26.2 percent to 21.1 trillion yuan, retreating 4.6 percentage points from the previous quarter.

The data came after efforts to rein in property speculation, particularly in major cities.

Dozens of local governments have passed or expanded restrictions on house purchases and increased minimum down payments.

The boom was also cooled by tightening liquidity. While the central bank has left benchmark interest rates on hold, it has used diverse monetary tools to ensure liquidity and guide interbank market rates higher.

Of the 70 cities surveyed in August, the pace of new home price growth slowed in 15 compared with the same month of last year, official data showed.