BEIJING - China's investment in property development rose 15 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2021, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Thursday.

Total property investment in the period stood at about 7.22 trillion yuan ($1.12 trillion), the NBS said.

Compared with the 2019 level, property investment went up 17.2 percent, putting average January-June growth for 2020 and 2021 at 8.2 percent.

Investment in residential buildings came in at 5.42 trillion yuan, up 17 percent from the same period last year.

Commercial housing sales rose 27.7 percent year-on-year in terms of floor area to 886.35 million square meters. In terms of value, commercial housing sales climbed 38.9 percent year-on-year.

The property development climate index compiled by the NBS stood at 101.05 points in June.

Thursday's data also showed that China continued to see a generally stable housing market in June, with home prices in 70 major cities showing slight month-on-month increases.

New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- rose 0.7 percent month-on-month in June.