Officials from the State Council are generally satisfied with the implementation of real estate curbs in most of the 16 major provinces and cities after two to three weeks' investigation since last month, and only one city, Jiangmen in Guangdong Province, was criticized for slack implementation as of Sunday, according to local media reports.

Industry watchers hold different views on whether stricter curbs will be imposed on the sector following the investigation.

The central government dispatched eight teams to investigate the implementation of property curbs in late July, prompted by the recent rebound in home prices. Local media in the provinces and cities under investigation have reported that investigators were satisfied with the investigation results.

No official report about the investigation results has been released so far. And the results may possibly form the basis for further curbs.

"The investigators mainly enquired about the sales situation of existing and new apartments and the working procedures of financial departments, and read related files and data, but didn't give any instructions to us," Chen Zhi, secretary-general of the Beijing Real Estate Association, who was invited by an investigation team to join in formal enquiry meetings, told the Global Times.

"In general the investigators are satisfied with the investigation results, according to my colleagues who were invited to attend an enquiry meeting in Beijing," said Liu Yuan, research director at Shanghai branch of Centaline China Real Estate.

Analysts said the move by the central government is intended to find out major causes of the recent recovery of the property market, especially in the big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, but the investigation results may possibly confuse the investigators: Now that the property curbs have been well implemented, how could the property market rebound?

"Rigid demand for apartments, which has accumulated for around two years since the launch of the government curbs, could be the major cause of the recent market recovery," Liu said.

And the credit policy easing, aimed at stimulating the economy, also boosted confidence of the property sector, said Liu.

Housing prices in 100 major Chinese cities rose in July month-on-month for the second straight month, according to a survey by the China Real Estate Index System.

Liu predicted that no further curbs like property tax will be imposed later, especially as the next generation of leaders, who do not want to see dramatic fluctuations in the property market, will assume office soon.

Though the investigation results are generally positive, "it does not mean the government will not modify the current policies," said Chen Guoqiang, deputy director of the China Real Estate Society.