BEIJING — China's housing market remained generally stable in June, with mild month-on-month increases in home prices in 70 major Chinese cities, official data showed on July 16.

New home prices in four first-tier cities — Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen — rose by 0.6 percent month-on-month in June, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

On a monthly basis, new home prices edged up 0.9 percent in 31 second-tier cities, and rose 0.8 percent in 35 third-tier cities.

Prices of resold housing in first-tier cities rose by 1 percent month-on-month in June, down 0.1 percentage points from that reported in the previous month.

Meanwhile, resold home prices in second-tier cities and third-tier cities both expanded by 0.5 percent last month, NBS data showed.

On a year-on-year basis, new and resold home prices in first-tier cities expanded at slightly faster rates, NBS data showed.

In June, new home prices in first-tier cities rose by 3.3 percent year-on-year, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous month, while resold home prices expanded by 5.2 percent, compared with the 4.1-percent rise in May.

Meanwhile, home prices continued the trend of slower year-on-year increases in second- and third-tier cities.

NBS senior statistician Kong Peng said the country's housing demand was further unleashed in June with the ongoing recovery of business, market and daily life activities.

July 16's data also showed that commercial housing sales in terms of floor area totaled 694.04 million square meters in the first half, down 8.4 percent year-on-year. In terms of value, commercial housing sales fell 5.4 percent year-on-year to 6.69 trillion yuan in the first half.

China will stick to its principle of "housing is for living in, not for speculation," according to this year's government work report.

The country will implement city-specific policies to promote steady and healthy development of the real estate market, said the report.