China's National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday that prices of new homes declined in August from the previous month in 67 of 70 major cities surveyed, or more than 95 percent of the total.

The number of cities that marked declines rose by one from the previous month while prices rose month on month in two cities, and remained unchanged in one city.

Of the bigger cities, prices edged up by 0.6 percent in Shanghai, but dropped in Shenzhen by 0.8 percent, and by 0.5 percent in Beijing and Guangzhou.

The average for smaller regional cities was down 0.8 percent.

The government has announced measures to shore up the market, such as purchasing unsold homes, but this has not improved the property slump.

The focus is on whether Beijing will take additional action.