(Yicai Global) May 17 -- Housing prices in China rose at a slower pace in April than the previous month as demand fizzles after a strong first quarter, according to the latest data.

The price of a new home increased in 62 cities last month from the month before, two fewer than in March, according to a poll of 70 medium-sized and large cities by the National Bureau of Statistics that was released today. While the price of a pre-owned home gained in 36 cities, much less than March’s 57.

And year on year, the price of a new house increased in 22 cities compared with 18 in March, and that of a second-hand home climbed in nine cities, one more than March’s figure.

The price of newly-built residential houses in major first-tier cities climbed 0.4 percent last month from the previous month, a gain of 0.1 percentage point from March’s month-on-month growth.

While the price of a new home in the smaller second- and third-tier cities advanced 0.4 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively, a dip of 0.2 percentage point and 0.1 percentage point from March’s clip.

The slowdown in housing price growth is a natural adjustment as the market recovers to a reasonable price, said Beike Research Institute, the think tank under China’s biggest realtor Ke Holdings.

Shanghai, Hangzhou and Hefei in eastern Anhui province and Shanghai have been rolling out measures to boost the real estate market since last month, so housing policies will stay loose and have an effect in the short term. This will help prices and transaction volumes steadily recover, Beike said.

The price of a new home in first-tier cities advanced 2 percent in April from a year earlier, an improvement of 0.3 percentage point from March’s yearly growth. While that of pre-owned homes gained 0.9 percent, a drop of 0.2 percentage point from March’s figures. In second-tier cities, the price of a new-build increased 0.2 percentage point but that of second-hand housing fell 2.2 percentage point.

Some 376.4 million square meters of properties changed hands from January to April, a dip of 0.4 percent from the same period last year, while that of residential homes jumped 2.7 percent. And the value of transactions jumped 8.8 percent to CNY4 trillion (USD571.7 billion) over the period while that of residential houses soared 11.8 percent.

Editor: Kim Taylor