Chinese homebuyers look at models of residential apartment buildings during a real estate fair in Shanghai, Dec 13, 2014. [Photo/IC]

BEIJING - China's housing market continued to pick up in August, with new home prices in an increasing number of surveyed cities registering month-on-month rises.

Of 70 large and medium-sized cities surveyed in August, new home prices climbed month-on-month in 35, up from the 31 in the previous month, while 26 reporting month-on-month price declines, down from July's 29, according to data released on Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics.