DEVELOPERS of more than a third of apartment projects in Shanghai raised their prices in 2011, with those at a luxury project along the Huangpu River increasing the most on an annual basis, according to a latest industry research.

Of the 320 apartment developments for sale in the city last year, the prices at 117 projects were higher at the end of December compared to the beginning of 2011 despite the government's tightening measures aimed at curbing speculation, according to a report released yesterday by Soufun, the operator of the country's largest real estate website.

Of the price gainers, the Bound of Bund, a luxury development by China Resources Land Ltd, raised its asking price by about 50 percent last year, the biggest increase in the city, according to Soufun.

"The central government introduced its toughest ever rein-in measures last year to fight against asset price bubbles and the majority of real estate developers have so far preferred to take a rather cautious wait-and-see attitude to cope with the changing environment," said Qu Peng, a Soufun analyst. "However, during the last quarter, developers of some projects, mainly in outlying areas of the city where new supply remained abundant, finally began to cut prices to trigger sales as they were facing growing pressure to replenish their capital."

Around 40 percent of apartment projects in the districts of Yangpu, Jiading, Baoshan and Qingpu saw the largest scale of price cuts last year. By contrast there were no price discounts in the prime Huangpu and Jing'an districts.

Price discounts were found at only 69, or 22 percent, of the 320 projects while the remainder, or 42 percent, saw little change in prices last year, Soufun data showed.

Several measures, including increased down payment and mortgage rates as well as home-purchase restrictions, were effective in curbing overinvestment and speculation last year. Analysts said prices may drop between 10 and 20 percent over the next six or 12 months.