Online and offline real estate agent Lianjia has now raised near to $1.8bn in the past year, with property developer and strategic partner China Vanke its latest investor.

Property developer China Vanke has agreed to invest RMB3bn ($436m) in Lianjia, the China-based online real estate portal also known as Homelink, through a private placement, Reuters reported yesterday.

Lianjia began life in 2001 as a real estate agency but has grown significantly in recent years as it has developed an extensive property listings platform online while the value of China’s property market in general has grown considerably.

Vanke and Lianjia are already partners, having jointly launched home decoration service…