(Source: CGTN)

China's home prices rose in March from one year ago, according to the national bureau of statistics. Analysts say it will take a few more months for the government's policies on purchase curbs to take effect.

China's residential housing market saw moderate gains in March, although the growth slowed down.

Haikou, Sanya and Guangzhou saw the largest monthly rises, followed by other second and third tier cities.

Analysts say a good environment in coastal areas helped boost prices, such as in Sanya and Xianmen. Both cities enjoy warm weather, and are close to the sea. 

Another notable trend is the almost universal price movement in existing homes. Only two of the 70 cities surveyed saw modest price drops, with major markets Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen all gaining from the previous month.

Analysts say the existing home market makes up the majority share of China's home sales, thanks to a number of purchase curbs by various local governments issued last year and, as recently as last month.

Official numbers show that Beijing's daily new home transaction volumes fell in March after tougher property curbs were introduced. But for a national level, market needs time to adjust. They say the effects of the series of housing policies are expected to be felt in the next three to five months.