Shanghai's existing housing index continued to climb in December for 10 consecutive months as property prices rose.

The index, which tracks prices of existing homes across the city, climbed 1.22 percent month on month to 2,519.

"The growth in December was the third-largest monthly gain in 2009, following an increase of 1.26 percent in April and a rise of 1.23 percent in July," said Chi Shengyu, an analyst with the index compiler. "We expect home prices to continue to go up in the short term as most sellers are likely to pass on rising transaction costs to buyers when favorable loan and tax policies expired on December 31."

The prices of existing homes in five downtown districts rose by an average of 1.15 percent in December, an increase of 0.59 percentage point from November.

By districts, the housing prices in Pudong New Area jumped the most by 2.13 percent last month. Across the city, prices in 59 of 70 areas monitored by the index office continued to rise while four areas were unchanged from a month earlier.

Prices in Pudong's Little Lujiazui, the prime business core of Lujiazui area, surged the most, or 2.93 percent from a month earlier, followed by Jinqiao which rose 2.8 percent and Shangnan which climbed 2.39 percent, both also in Pudong.

Century 21 China Real Estate, a leading property chain in the city, released its latest research showing the transaction volume of existing properties, mainly residential as well as commercial and other real estate, fell 12 percent to 28,700 units last month. The average price, however, gained 2 percent to 14,700 yuan (US$2,152) per square meter.

Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Ltd, the city's largest agency, reported earlier that prices of existing homes traded at its local branches jumped 20 percent to 22,026 yuan per square meter in December, the highest monthly average in 2009.