(Beijing) &ndash Sales of second-hand apartments increased 91 percent in the first half year compared to the same period last year, data from a real estate agency show.

Individuals bought 84,300 second-hand apartments in the first six months, data from BA Consulting & 5I5J Group says. The average price paid was 37,459 yuan per square meter, up 2.9 percent from last year.

The recent government policies have boosted the market in the capital, said Hu Jinghui, vice president of BA Consulting & 5I5J Group.

Real estate sales and prices started falling in many cities around China starting last year. Beijing' s home sales last year fell by more than one-fifth from 2013, and the average price increased only a little, the agency' s data show.

The central bank has cut banks' reserve-requirement ratios and the benchmark deposit and lending rates three times this year, moves that increased liquidity and reduced the loan burden on homebuyers, Hu said.

The central government lowered the down payment required when buying a second home to 40 percent of the price from the previous 60 percent. Sellers will not have to pay a tax if they owned the property for more than two years. The previous limit was five years.

These policies prompted more people to sell their home in the first half of the year, said Hu. Families were also taking the opportunity to buy a bigger home.

Land sales are also heating up in the capital. A consortium of three developers, including CIFI Group, paid 2.411 billion yuan to buy a plot of land covering 188,800 square meters in the capital' s Daxing District on June 30, beating other developers including China Vanke Co. Ltd. and Country Garden Holdings Co. Ltd. at an auction.

The price would mean the property cost 11,700 yuan per square meter of floor area, based on the purchase price and government limits on building, one analyst said.

Developers were fiercely competing over land in Beijing in the expectation that the capital' s market will rebound soon, said Guo Yi, director of the Yahao Real Estate Selling & Consulting Solution Agency.

Beijing also cut land supply for residential building in recent years, Guo said. The city planned to offer around 1,000 hectares of land last year, but only completed sales for 517 hectares. This year, it planned to make 750 hectares available, but by June 29, it had only completed sales of 169 hectares