Shanghai's land market gained this month with both transaction volume and prices rising from the same period of last year.

In January, 355,000 square meters of land were sold for 5.15 billion yuan (US$817 million) in the city, a year-on-year increase of 37.7 percent and 96.2 percent, respectively, Soufun.com, China's largest real estate website operator, said yesterday in a report.

Nine of the 15 land plots released last month were sold above the asking price. Six of the nine plots fetched 50 percent more than the asking price, Soufun data showed.

"The recent land market boom has reflected improving investment prospects among real estate developers over the past few months," said Huang Hetao, a researcher with Century 21 China Real Estate, operator of the city's largest estate chain in terms of outlet number. "Steadily recovering buying sentiment among home seekers since the second half of last year has boosted the capital strength of many developers, as well as their confidence in the market."

A joint venture formed by several subsidiaries under China Shipping (Group) Co yesterday agreed to pay 1.47 billion yuan for a 9,000-square-meter plot near the Huangpu River in the Pudong New Area.