China continued to see a generally stable housing market in April, with home prices in 70 major cities showing moderate month-on-month increases, official data showed Monday.

 

New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- rose 0.6 percent month on month in April, compared with a 0.4-percent increase registered in March, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

 

A total of 31 second-tier cities saw a month-on-month increase of 0.6 percent in new home prices, while 35 third-tier cities witnessed a month-on-month rise of 0.4 percent in new home prices last month.

 

The resale home market in first-tier cities saw prices increase 0.8 percent month on month in April, edging down 0.2 percentage points from March.

 

Prices of resale homes in second-tier cities saw a 0.5-percent month-on-month increase, while those in third-tier cities climbed 0.3 percent.

 

On a year-on-year basis, home prices registered faster expansion, the NBS said.

 

New home prices in first-tier cities rose 5.8 percent in April, up from 5.2-percent growth in March, while those in second-tier cities went up 4.9 percent, up from a 4.8-percent expansion in the previous month.

 

The resale home prices in first-tier cities grew 11.3 percent from a year earlier, narrowing 0.1 percentage points from the growth in March.