China's property index for the month of October reached 105.74 points, 2.34 points higher than in October 2006, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. Housing prices in 70 cities rose 9.5% in October, with larger cities such as Beijing and Shenzhen seeing prices rise over 10%, state media reported. These high prices affected the vacancy index, which has risen 7.42% year-to-year, though investment in property continues to rise. During the first 10 months of 2007, real estate investment rose 31.4% to US$258.4 billion, 70% of which occurred in the residential market. The property index has been rising for seven consecutive months.