Housing price in 70 major Chinese cities rose 1.6 percent year on year, the lowest increase this year, according to data released on Tuesday by the National Development and Reform Commission and National Bureau of Statistics.

The year-on-year increase rate was 1.9 percentage points lower than the September level. The price dropped 0.3 percent month on month.

Statistics showed the price of new housing grew 1.8 percent, 2.1 percentage points lower compared with the year-on-year increase rate in the previous month. It also posted a 0.3 percent month-on-month drop.

A total of 35 of the 70 cities reported a month-on-month price drop. Housing price in the southern city of Shenzhen fell 2.5 percent, while its neighboring Guangzhou was 1.8 percent down.

Meanwhile, none of the 21 cities that posted a month-on-month price increase grew above 2 percent, with Zhanjiang rising the most by 1.9 percent.

Eleven cities showed a year-on-year price decrease in October, with Shenzhen and Guangzhou taking the lead again, down 15 percent and 7.4 percent respectively.

China's once over-heated domestic property market has seen falls in prices amid the global financial crisis, awakening worries that further weakening may affect the country's overall economic growth.

The government has initiated a series of measures to boost the housing market since late October, the latest being a 4 trillion yuan (about US$586 billion) economy stimulus package issued on November 9 with housing projects taken into account.

(Xinhua News Agency November 12, 2008)