BEIJING - New home prices rose in almost all Chinese cities in March, as transactions soared ahead of renewed government control measures, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Thursday.

Of a statistical pool of 70 major Chinese cities, 68 saw home prices increase in March from a month earlier, up from 66 in February, the NBS said in a statement on its website.

Expectations of higher home costs after the implementation of government control measures contributed to a purchase rush in March, which prompted property developers to either cancel discounts or hike prices, said Liu Jianwei, a senior statistician with the NBS.

Meanwhile, March is traditionally a peak season for housing sales, adding to the market heat, Liu noted.

First-tier cities recorded the largest monthly increase in new home prices, with Shanghai's 3.2-percent growth topping the list, followed by 2.8 percent in Shenzhen and 2.7 percent in Beijing.

Home prices continued to decline in China's eastern city of Wenzhou, the only city that saw a price decrease last month.

On a year-on-year basis, 67 cities registered higher prices in March, according to the statement. The equivalent figure in February was 62.

Both Beijing and Guangzhou logged declines of 11.2 percent, the largest year-on-year decrease among the 70 cities.