BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- 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.

Separate NBS data on Monday showed China's investment in property development rose 21.6 percent year on year in the first four months, while commercial housing sales increased by 48.1 percent year on year in terms of floor area to 503.05 million square meters.

The government has maintained tight regulation of the property sector, including home purchase curbs and stricter mortgage policies, to ensure that "housing is for living in, not for speculation." Enditem

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