Commercial property and home sales surged in Beijing in the first months of 2012, amid the recovery of the capitol’s real estate market.

Commercial property sales gained 30.4 percent annually to 13.1 million square meters during the period, while home sales had year-on-year growth of 45.4 percent to 10.13 million square meters, according to data released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics on Monday.

The sales surge came as a continuation of the city's property market recovery that came around in May, buyers snapped up bargains in the cooling market out of fear that housing prices would soon rise, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Buying was further stimulated by two interest rate cuts since June that have cut mortgage costs and fueled hopes that more easing policies would trigger a stronger rebound, the report said.

On the other hand, the Beijing-based Caixin.com indicated that the rise in sales has been due to aggressive promotional campaigns and price cuts, citing industry insiders.

Construction of commercial real estate fell by 27.4 percent and the building of new residential properties has fallen by 39.9 percent between January and October.