HOUSING demand in China was "still robust" in the first four months of the year, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a report issued yesterday.

The area of houses sold in this period more than doubled than that of newly finished apartments, the report said, without giving specific figures. The number of vacant properties dropped 0.8 percent in the period, the report said.

Vacant properties are defined as houses which haven't been sold or rented for a year.

A big gap exists between supply and demand of new residences. Except for several cities like Beijing and Tianjin, housing demand is still robust, the report said.

Investments in homes smaller than 90 square meters accounted for only 17.2 percent of residence investments.

It's tough to implement the "70 percent, 90 square meters" policy, the report said.

The policy was announced in May 2006, saying that residential units below 90 square meters should account for 70 percent of a project's total. It was designed to raise the supply of small and medium-size homes and discourage luxury houses from being built.

In the four months, prices of new residences in the country's 70 major cities grew around six percent from a year earlier.

Property investment in the period grew 27.4 percent from a year earlier to 526.5 billion yuan (US$68.6 billion), and foreign direct investments surging 136.5 percent, the report said.

China last year tightened credit to developers, boosted supervision over land use and improved the enforcement of tax policies to cool down a real estate boom.