(Yicai Global) Aug. 18 -- Of the 70 cities surveyed by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 15 first- and second-tier ones recorded slowdowns in annual price increases on their local new property markets, per statistics released today on last month's residential property sales in major cities.

New property prices in the four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- respectively rose 9.6 percent, 8.4 percent, 0.5 percent and 11.6 percent annually, marking deceleration in growth. New property price growth in Beijing fell 0.1 percent monthly, while Shenzhen and Guangzhou went up 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent, and Shanghai remained flat.

Secondhand property prices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou increased by 13.1 percent, 7.4 percent, 3.1 percent and 21.5 percent annually, indicating a similar slowing. Shenzhen and Guangzhou secondhand property prices rose 0.6 percent and 0.1 percent monthly. Beijing and Shanghai posted monthly declines of 0.8 percent and 0.4 percent.

Real estate markets remained stable overall in China's 15 first-tier and key second-tier cities last month, said Liu Jianwei, a senior statistician at the NBS's urban statistics department. New property price growth has decelerated by 0.8 to 4.9 percentage points annually in these cities. Ten of them recorded level or monthly declines in new property prices, and the other five saw monthly upticks of up to 0.4 percent.