BEIJING (Reuters) - China's home prices rose in September at the fastest rate on record as buyers rushed to close contracts before new restrictive measures took effect in October, suggesting this month's growth might be more muted.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's home prices rose in September at the fastest rate on record as buyers rushed to close contracts before new restrictive measures took effect in October, suggesting this month's growth might be more muted.

Average new home prices in China's 70 major cities rose 11.2 percent in September from a year earlier, accelerating from a 9.2 percent increase in August, a National Bureau of Statistics survey showed on Friday.

Second-tier cities recorded the highest year-on-year price growth in September again, as sharp price rises have spilled over to other parts of the country.

Hefei, capital city of Henan province in central China, was the top performer in the price rally, with prices surging 46.8 percent from a year earlier, quicker than the 40.3 percent rise in August.

The coastal city of Xiamen in southeastern China, the top performer in August, registered a record price rise of 46.5 percent, accelerating from 43.8 percent in the previous month.

The property market, accounting for around 15 percent of gross domestic product, has become a major driver of economic growth this year, as booming construction, sales and prices contributed handsomely to third quarter economic expansion of 6.7 percent, offsetting the loss of economic momentum from slumping exports and sluggish private investment.

The NBS data showed 64 of 70 major cities tracked by the NBS saw year-on-year price gains, in line with August.

But homes in the biggest first-tier cities are still the most expensive in absolute price terms, and also saw significant price rises in September.

Beijing and Shanghai prices rose 27.8 percent and 32.7 percent on-year, quickening from 23.5 percent and 31.2 percent in August.

Price growth in Shenzhen, a long-time top performer but gave way to Xiamen to be the second highest in August, fell slightly to 34.1 percent from 36.8 percent in the previous month.

Despite clear signs of destocking in some lower-tier cities as sales boom and new construction slips, many small cities still have a large glut of unsold homes.

PRICES GROWTH COOLS

More than 20 cities have adopted restrictive measures aiming to tame fast-rising prices, although 15 of them were implemented in the first week of October, which will not be reflected in the NBS data on Friday.

To "reflect changes in the market" and prove the effectiveness of cooling measures, the NBS released a new table on Friday in a rare move, which compared price growth in the first half of October to September.It showed price growth in 15 first- and second-tier cities which implemented new measures during the holiday, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Shenzhen, showed signs of cooling on a monthly basis.

Prices in Hefei grew only 1 percent in the first half of October, compared to the last month, slowing significantly from a 4.6 percent rise in September.

Analysts say the tightening measures are still much milder then previous occasions when regulators ordered stringent credit tightening on real estate developers and home buyers to curb price bubbles.

But some analysts said they are optimistic about China's efforts to manage property price growth.

"We view China's authorities as more like Singapore's and we think it's a matter of time before macro prudential policy slows sales growth," Singapore-based Tim Condon from ING said in a note ahead of the data release.