Prices of new homes in Chinese cities remained resilient in September despite Beijing's efforts to cool the property market, official data showed Tuesday.
The cost of new homes in 24 out of 70 Chinese cities tracked by the government rose in September, compared with 23 cities in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.
However, the month-on-month increase in prices in the 24 cities was no more than 0.3 percent, it said.
Independently compiled data released Tuesday by Soufun Holdings, a real estate website operator, showed average prices for new homes nationwide dropped for the first time in a year.
Average prices of new homes in 100 cities tracked by Soufun fell 0.03 percent in September from a month earlier.
"The trend of prices falling will become more obvious in the fourth quarter," Soufun said in a report, adding that the chance of Beijing easing its curbs on the property market is "very slim".
Separately, bureau data showed new home prices in another 29 cities were stable in September from August, while only 17 cities recorded price falls.
In August, prices in 31 cities were flat from the previous month and 16 cities saw price falls.
Soaring property prices are a major source of official and consumer concern in China, with housing costs rising out of the reach of many people and threatening to spark social unrest in the country of more than 1.3 billion.
China has introduced a range of measures aimed at reducing prices, such as bans on buying second homes in some cities, hiking minimum down payments and introducing property taxes.
But officials are treading carefully as the real estate sector is a major driver of economic growth and land sales to developers are an important source of revenue for cash-strapped local governments.
The bureau said 69 cities saw new home prices rise on a year-on-year basis in September.
In Shanghai, the nation's commercial hub, new home prices rose 3.1 percent on the year last month, picking up from 2.8 percent in August.
