China continued to see its housing market ease in August under strengthened market regulations, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Wednesday.

 

New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- rose 0.3 percent month on month in August, representing a slower growth pace from the 0.4 percent seen in July, according to the NBS data.

 

Prices of second-hand homes in the four cities gained 0.2 percent month on month, down 0.2 percentage points from the growth in July.

 

A total of 31 second-tier cities witnessed a month-on-month increase of 0.2 percent in new home prices, while 35 third-tier cities saw month-on-month growth in new home prices remain unchanged.

 

The NBS data also showed that in August, second-hand home prices in second-tier cities stayed the same, while those in third-tier cities edged down 0.1 percent month on month.

 

On a year-on-year basis, new home prices in first-tier cities rose 5.7 percent in August, down from the 6-percent growth in July, while those in second-tier and third-tier cities went up 4.4 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively.