China's home prices gained for the sixth consecutive month in March from a year earlier. The average prices for 70 major cities monitored by the housing authority rose 4.9 percent, an official survey showed Monday.

The growth picked up by more than 1 percentage point from a rise in Febuary. Compared with last year, 40 out of 70 cities saw new home prices rise, while prices fell in 29 cities. One city saw prices stay the same. The southern city of Shenzhen continued to be the top performer with home prices rising nearly 62 percent from a year ago, followed by Shanghai with 25 percent gain. Prices in the two cities went up even higher than their February record rally.

China's housing market bottomed out in the second half of last year on a slew of government support measures, but a strong rebound in prices in the biggest cities has sparked concerns that some markets may be overheating. And this has prompted local authorities to tighten purchasing rules in late March.