BEIJING, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Residential housing prices in China's 70 large and medium-sized cities continued to see narrowed year-on-year declines in August, while the prices also dropped monthly, official data showed on Monday.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that the prices of new homes in the country's four top-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen -- decreased by 0.9 percent on average from a year ago, a smaller decline than the 1.1 percent drop recorded in July. Notably, bucking the overall trend, Shanghai, the country's economic hub, recorded a 5.9 percent rise.

Other major cities also reported slower declines, with new-home prices in second-tier cities down 2.4 percent, easing from a 2.8 percent fall in July, and third-tier cities saw a 3.7 percent decrease, compared with a 4.2 percent slide the previous month.

On a month-to-month basis, the downward momentum in new home prices also eased in first- and second-tier cities, although third-tier markets experienced a slightly wider decline.

The NBS data also showed that prices for existing homes in major cities continued to edge lower last month.

China has continued its efforts to stabilize the property sector this year, with a range of measures aimed at ending the market downturn while stimulating housing demand. In particular, the top-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen have further refined their housing measures since August.

NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui said on Monday at a press conference that these measures have yielded results.

Fu noted that sales volumes and revenues of new homes in some first- and second-tier cities have continued to grow, while the total area of unsold housing has declined for six consecutive months.

Despite these encouraging signs, Fu cautioned that the property sector's overall sales remain on a downward trend. "The recovery of the real estate market will take time," he emphasized.

Looking ahead, Fu said that more efforts will be made to advance urban renewal projects, foster a new model for real estate development, and expand the supply of high-standard housing, ensuring the stable and healthy development of the property sector.