China Vanke Co, the country's largest residential property developer, said yesterday that sales rose last month after it sold more houses across the country.

Vanke sold about 286,000 square meters of new houses for 2.19 billion yuan (US$320.64 million) in January, a year-on-year boost of 24.2 percent and 18.6 percent, respectively, according to a statement filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

The Shenzhen-based company also said that it has added one more project recently in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, with a total gross floor area of 135,700 square meters.

Last year, China's biggest publicly listed developer sold a combined 5.57 million square meters of homes for 47.87 billion yuan, down 9.2 percent and 8.6 percent from 2007.

Vanke's rising sales may be followed by Poly Real Estate Group Co and other builders reporting similar gains, as falling home prices draw new buyers, Bloomberg News said. China's average home prices dipped 0.4 percent from a year earlier in December, the first decline since the government began releasing the data in August 2005.

(Shanghai Daily February 10, 2009)