BEIJING, Jan. 21 (Xinhua) -- China's investment in property development grew 9.5 percent year on year in 2018, 2.5 percentage points faster than the pace in 2017, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday.

The total property investment last year surpassed 12 trillion yuan (about 1.77 trillion U.S. dollars), the NBS said.

The investment in residential buildings, accounting for more than 70 percent of the total, rallied 13.4 percent from a year ago in 2018, speeding up from the 9.4-percent increase in 2017.

Monday's data also showed buildings with a total of 1.72 billion square meters in floor area were sold last year, 1.3 percent higher than 2017. The sales in value gained 12.2 percent to 15 trillion yuan.

Home sales increased 2.2 percent in floor area and 14.7 percent in value.