Most Chinese say property prices are "too high to accept" despite government measures to cool the sector, according to a central bank survey made public Sunday.

Among Chinese households, 72.2 percent thought property prices are too expensive, up 7 percent from one year earlier, according to a third-quarter survey across 50 cities, posted on the website of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

Property prices in 70 major Chinese cities rose 9.3 percent in August year on year, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Additionally, new home prices rose 11.7 percent from one year earlier in August, while prices of second-hand homes rose 6.2 percent.

The study also indicated that 15.6 percent of respondents want to buy homes during the coming three months, down 1.5 percent compared with the same period last year.

Further, 58.3 percent of respondents also say commodity prices are "too high", a drop of 0.6 percent from the second quarter. The study showed 73.2 percent expected prices to continue to rise, up 2.9 percent from the second quarter.

China's consumer price index, a main gauge of inflation, rose 3.5 percent from one year earlier in August, the highest level in 22 months and the second consecutive month the index has exceeded the government's full-year target of 3 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency September 20, 2010)