Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news

Property prices in 35 large and medium-sized Chinese cities recorded slower growth in the second quarter of the year, and Shanghai still had the highest property prices nationwide, according to a survey released by the People's Bank of China yesterday.
The average property price in 35 domestic cities from April to June this year was 4,719 yuan (US$582) per square meter, up 8 percent year-on-year and 1.5 percent from the previous quarter, but down 1.8 and 1.2 percentage points respectively from the same growth indicators recorded in the first quarter of the year.
Nine cities had property prices above the average. Shanghai, Beijing and Xia'men ranked as the top three in terms of property prices, with Shanghai in pole position with 8,355 yuan per square meter.
In the first half of the year, investment in real estate development nationwide grew 23.5 percent from a year earlier, down 5.2 percentage points relative to the growth-rate of the corresponding period last year.
At the end of June, a total of 100 million square meters of property remained unsold in China, an increase of 7.9 percent from a year earlier.