The number of new homes sold in Beijing may have risen to a 16-month high in May, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

More than 8,500 apartments were sold in the first 26 days of the month, an increase of about 25 percent from the same period a month earlier, Xinhua said, citing the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing Urban-rural Development.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Henry Sanderson in Beijing at hsanderson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Shelley Smith at ssmith118@bloomberg.net