BEIJING -- New home prices rose more steeply in more Chinese cities in February, putting the government in an increasingly complex situation of regulating the bubble-ridden market, official data showed Monday.

Of a statistical pool of 70 major Chinese cities recorded by the National Bureau of Statistics, 66 cities saw home prices increase within 3.1 percent in February from a month earlier. In January, 53 cities reported growth margin with no more than 2.2 percent.

On a year-on-year basis, 62 cities registered rising prices with growth rate drastically up to 8.2 percent, compared with 4.7 percent recorded in January, NBS said in a statement on its website.