Housing prices in 100 surveyed Chinese cities fell 0.31 percent in May from April for the ninth straight month, according to data from the China Index Academy.
The average housing price in these cities stood at 8,684 yuan (1,372 U.S. dollars) per square meter last month, down 1.53 percent year on year, the data showed.
Housing values dropped in 73 cities while 26 posted gains, and one reported no changes in residential prices, SouFun said. Prices in the 10 biggest cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, retreated 0.5 percent from April, and dropped 3.2 percent year-on-year.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said last month China will maintain its curbs on the housing market.
The private sector survey showed that home prices fell in all of China's top 10 cities at an average of 0.5 percent from April and they also declined 3.2 percent from the same period last year, making the fifth monthly decline in a row.
The CREIS data comes ahead of official figures on home prices in 70 major cities from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), due on May 18. NBS numbers for April fell for a second month in a row compared with year ago levels.
Meanwhile, the average home price in the country's top ten cities including Beijing and Shanghai reached 15,314 yuan per square meter last month, down 0.5 percent from April, the data showed.
However, new home transactions in the ten cities surged 22.6 percent during the first three weeks in May from a month ago, the data showed.
The report said the government's strict property control measures,including tighter lending policies, higher down payments and a ban on third-home purchases, have been effective in dampening price rises.
