BEIJING, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's housing market continued to soften as home prices in 70 large and medium-sized cities generally fell in December 2025 from the previous month, official data showed Monday.

In the four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen -- prices of newly built homes edged down 0.3 percent month on month in December, while prices of second-hand homes slipped 0.9 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Both declines were narrower than those recorded in the previous month, suggesting signs of stabilization.

Meanwhile, the pressure lingered in lower-tier cities. Among 31 second-tier cities, the average month-on-month price decline widened, while prices in 35 third-tier cities also continued their downward trajectory.

On a year-on-year basis, home prices in major cities across the country registered larger declines, the NBS data showed.

Against this backdrop, Shanghai stood out as a rare bright spot. Prices of newly built homes in the city rose 0.2 percent last month from November and climbed 4.8 percent from a year earlier.

China has maintained its policy support for the real estate sector and strived to promote a new development model amid the shifting supply-demand dynamics.

Recently, financial regulators unveiled a lower minimum down payment ratio for commercial property mortgages, while taxation authorities announced the extension of a preferential policy that people who sell their homes and purchase another one within one year will be eligible for a refund of the individual income tax.

Monday's data also showed that China's real estate development investment dropped 17.2 percent year on year in 2025, and the area of sold new homes declined 8.7 percent.