House prices increased in 68 out of 70 cities in April from the previous year, the same number of cities as seen in March, data published by the National Bureau of Statistics showed Saturday.

Guangzhou recorded the biggest annual increase of around 14 percent. Prices in Beijing gained 10.3 percent and that in Shanghai climbed 8.5 percent.

On a monthly basis, house prices in 67 of 70 cities increased in April compared to 68 in March. It increased by 1.4 percent in Beijing and 1.7 percent in Shanghai.

The NBS stopped releasing one average house price for the nation as a whole at the start of 2011. The NBS now provides house price changes in major 70 cities.