Housing prices in eight key mainland China cities have rocketed upwards in the past decade, with those in Shenzhen surging more than 500 per cent, a study shows. Shenzhen saw new home prices rise 508.5 per cent between 2006 and 2015, with an annual growth rate of 20.4 per cent, according to a home price index jointly issued by Tsinghua University and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a research firm. Shanghai ranked second in terms of growth in the 10-year period, with prices up 384.6 per cent, for an annual rate of 17.6 per cent. Then followed Beijing, with a 380 per cent rise over 10 years and and annual growth of 17.5 per cent. The quarterly China Quality-Controlled Housing Price Index monitors new home prices in urban areas of eight cities, also including Chengdu, Dalian, Tianjin, Wuhan and Xian. The average growth in home prices in the eight cities amounted to 255.1 per cent over the past decade, or an annual growth rate of 13.5 per cent, beating the average gross domestic product growth rate of 9.5 per cent, according to the study. The trend will continue, with home prices in core cities surging while prices in inland cities soften Alan Chiang, DTZ/Cushman and Wakefield Despite the broad slowdown in the mainland property sector, analysts said the growing momentum in key cities would continue on the back of strong demand and stable economic development. In the wake of central government moves to clamp down on capital outflows, combined with low deposit rates and volatile stock markets, mainland investors would put more capital into real estate, said Alan Chiang, head of residential, greater China at DTZ/Cushman & Wakefield. “Where do they park the money, core cities or third- or fourth-tier cities?” Chiang said. He said investors would choose core cities due to the limited supply and strong demand. Shenzhen ability to attract talent due to the jobs being offered by internet and finance companies headquartered in the area had pushed up economic growth and property prices, Chiang said. Shenzhen surpassed Beijing and Shanghai last year to become the most expensive housing market on the mainland, with prices jumping nearly 50 per cent. Analysts said there seemed to be no sign of the trend slowing down. “The trend will continue, with home prices in core cities surging while prices in inland cities soften,” Chiang said. Mainland media reported on Wednesday that the government would soon introduce property cooling measures. Shenzhen is already one of only five mainland cities with strict home-buying restrictions. Families of permanent residents are allowed to buy two residential properties, while others can only buy one. The city government was likely to further extend the home purchase threshold in terms of social security contributions by non-permanent resident to three years, from the current one year, mainland media reported.