CHINA Vanke Co said today that property sales in the first three quarters of 2010 jumped more than 50 percent to 71.42 billion yuan (US$10.7 billion), exceeding that of the entire sales of 2009.

The nation's largest listed developer sold a total of 6.01 million sq m of new houses during the nine-month period, an increase of 17 percent from the same period a year ago, according to a filing made to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

In September alone, the Shenzhen-based firm made sales of 14.21 billion yuan, remaining above the 10-billion-yuan barrier for the second consecutive month. It was also a record monthly high for Chinese real estate developers. By area, about 1.14 million sq m of new spaces were sold, a year-on-year growth of 111 percent, the company said.

"Robust supply of new homes, coupled with a large proportion of small- to medium-sized apartments, continued to fuel Vanke's sales in September,?said Tan Huajie, board secretary of Vanke. "However, home-buying momentum would probably slow down across the country in the fourth quarter as a new round of rein-in measures are taking effect.?Apartments no larger than 90 sq m accounted for 57 percent of the total sold in September, according to the company.

On September 29 China unveiled another round of nationwide policies to further tighten mortgage lending in its continuous effort to clamp down on property speculation.

Banks have been ordered to stop providing mortgages to buyers of third or more properties while first-time buyers must put down a deposit of at least 30 percent, instead of 20 percent, of the total price, according to a statement released by the State Council.

In Shanghai, the city government announced last Thursday a new set of policies to press harder on the brakes with a cap put on the number of homes a family can purchase being the toughest measure. A family is now allowed to buy only one home in the city "for a certain period of time,?a move that has been in effect in Beijing since May 1.