BEIJING, Sept 15 (Reuters) - China’s property investment grew 10.9% in the first eight months of 2021 from a year earlier, compared with a 12.7% increase in the January-July period, official data showed on Wednesday. For January-August, property sales by floor area rose 15.9% year-on-year compared with growth of 21.5% seen in the first seven months, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement. Authorities have stepped up efforts to contain home prices and limit leverage in the property market this year, introducing measures such as caps on property developers’ debt ratio and limits on banks’ lending to the sector. New construction starts measured by floor area dipped 3.2% from a year earlier, versus a 0.9% decline in the first seven months of the year. Funds raised by China’s property developers grew 14.8%, compared with a gain of 18.2% in the first seven months of the year. (Reporting by Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa) Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. MORE FROM REUTERS