China's home prices slightly down in June

BEIJING - Fewer Chinese cities reported month-on-month increases in home prices in June, official data showed Saturday.

Last month, 31 out of 70 large and medium-sized cities saw month-on-month increases in new home prices, down from 46 in May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Meanwhile, seven cities witnessed higher resale home prices, down from 15 in May.

New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou -- stayed flat in June, compared with a 0.1 percent growth in May.

In 31 second-tier cities, prices of new homes were unchanged from May, while new housing prices in 35 third-tier cities went down 0.1 percent.

Compared with June last year, new home prices in first-tier cities and second-tier cities increased by 1.3 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively, while prices of new homes in third-tier cities decreased by 1.4 percent.

Home prices in the second-hand market also saw a year-on-year decline in June. Resale home prices in first-tier cities dipped 0.4 percent from a year ago, while those in second and third-tier cities dropped 2.4 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, the data revealed.