BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhua) -- Commercial home prices dipped slightly in China's 70 large and medium-sized cities in February amid Spring Festival sales off-season and other factors, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

Prices of new homes in the first-tier cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, increased 0.1 percent from a month ago, according to the data.

In the second-tier cities, prices of new homes stayed flat from the January level, while prices of resold homes dropped by 0.4 percent.

"China's real estate market has remained generally steady so far this year, continuing to move toward stemming market downturn and restoring stability," NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui told a press conference.

Fu cited data that showed the declines in new commercial housing sales narrowed by 7.8 percentage points in terms of floor area and 14.5 percentage points in value compared with the full-year drop of 2024.

On a yearly basis, price reductions of new homes and resold homes across 70 large and medium-sized cities have also continued to lessen in February, according to him.

A survey of developers and real estate agencies last month showed that up to 71.8 percent of respondents expected the property market would either remain stable or shift to an upward trend in the upcoming six months, up 2.8 percentage points from a month ago, said Fu.

The NBS also revealed Monday that China's investment in property development decreased 9.8 percent year on year in the first two months of 2025. The drop narrowed by 0.8 percentage points compared to the full year of 2024.

But Fu also cautioned that the property market in certain regions remains in a state of adjustment, with pressure still lingering for market stabilization.

He stressed the need to reduce transaction restrictions, fully tap into potential housing demand, and accelerate the establishment of a new real estate development model.