Average new home prices in January rose for the first time on an annual basis in nearly a year, a clear sign that the housing market is once again heating up, The Wall Street Journal reported. Prices of newly built homes rose from a year earlier in 53 of the 70 cities covered by a government survey, up from 40 cities in December, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said Friday. The figures were posted two days following a government pledge to continue measures that have already been in place for the last three years to curb price growth.