Investment in real estate in Shanghai, a leading economic city, surpassed 40 billion yuan (US$4.8 billion) in the first half of this year.

Statistics released by the municipal statistical bureau show that 4.1 percent of the city's economic growth in the period was from real estate.

In the January-June period, the industry completed value-added turnover of some 18.2 billion yuan, up 8.1 percent over the corresponding period last year, accounting for 6.4 percent of the total gross domestic product (GDP) in the city.

Of the total investment of 41.7 billion yuan, individual investors completed 8.88 billion yuan, up 62.9 percent on a year-on-year base, while share-holding companies contributed 15.75 billion yuan, up 3.4 percent and overseas investment reaching 7.79billion yuan, up 37.5 percent.