BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The municipal authority of Beijing will penalize housing developers who are found guilty of hoarding properties to shore up prices.

    Shen Jie, an official with the Municipal Construction Committee, said earlier in the week that the committee will promulgate new rules targeting irregularities in the market.

    Despite the central government's efforts to rein in soaring housing prices in major cities, property prices in Beijing have gone on rising rapidly.

    Figures provided by the municipal authorities show that housing prices in Beijing rose 17.3 percent in the first two months of the year, though the National Bureau of Statistics reports a lower rise.

    Hoarding practices by developers have been blamed partly for the wild prices. It is believed that some developers are withholding their houses from the market to create a false impression of insufficient supply in order to shore up prices or incite panic buying.

    Earlier this month, the construction committee set up a website that provides detailed information on the sale of each project.

    By May 6, shows the website, the city had nearly 210,000 future and existing apartments on sale, of which nearly 130,000 apartments still had not found buyers.

    In response to complaints from developers that information on the website is outdated and inaccurate, Shen Jie insisted that the figures are renewed everyday and are very reliable. Enditem