The number of new condominiums put on sale in the Tokyo metropolitan area logged a year-on-year rise of 16 percent in February, marking the first such increase in five months, the Real Estate Economic Institute said Thursday.

The increase reflects a significant push to market large mainstay condos during the month, an official at the institute said.

"Developers focused on strategic products in February." he said, noting that 2,844, or 30.1 percent, of the condos put up for sale were large-scale units.

The percentage of new-condo contracts signed in the month was above the boom-or-bust line of 70 percent, coming in at 77.4 percent. This marked a decrease of 5.8 percentage points from a year earlier but an increase of 10.7 points from January.

The average per-unit price rose 3.2 percent from a year before to 40.78 million yen. Prices per square meter averaged 514,000 yen, down 1.3 percent.

In the Kinki region, which comprises Osaka and the neighboring prefectures of Hyogo, Kyoto, Shiga, Nara and Wakayama, the number of new condos put on sale in February rose 15.1 percent to 4,725, a record for the month.

The ratio of new-condo contracts came in at 70 percent, down 10.1 percentage points from a year before but up 9.3 points from January, the institute said.

Prices per unit averaged 31.70 million yen, up 0.3 percent from a year earlier, while prices per square meter came to 403,000 yen, down 1.5 percent, the institute said.