BEIJING — China continued to see a generally stable housing market in January, with home prices in 70 major cities showing mild month-on-month increases, official data showed on Feb 23.

New home prices in four first-tier cities — Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou — rose 0.6 percent month-on-month in January, compared with a 0.3-percent increase registered in December, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

A total of 31 second-tier cities saw a month-on-month increase of 0.4 percent in new home prices, while 35 third-tier cities witnessed a month-on-month rise of 0.2 percent in new home prices last month.

The resale home market in first-tier cities saw prices increase 1.3 percent month on month in January, edging up 0.7 percentage points from December.

Prices of resale homes in second-tier cities saw a 0.4-percent month-on-month increase, while those in third-tier cities climbed 0.3 percent.

On a year-on-year basis, new home prices in first-tier cities rose 4.2 percent in January, up from 3.9-percent growth in December, while those in second-tier cities went up 4.1 percent, up from a 4-percent expansion in December.

The resale home prices in first-tier cities grew 9.6 percent from a year earlier, expanding 1 percentage point from the growth in December.