China's new and pre-owned home prices in 70 major cities fell more slowly in January than in the previous month.

Market expectations turned more positive following a slew of measures to protect rational demand whilst sticking to the principle of "housing is for living in, not for speculation", experts said.

The growth rate of home prices edged down slightly from a year earlier, said Sheng Guoqing, chief statistician with the National Bureau of Statistics' urban department.

NBS data showed new home prices in the 70 major cities grew 1.7 percent year-on-year in January but did not change much compared to the levels in December.

"To be more accurate, the month-on-month figure should be -0.04 percent. The meager figure, however, means that the home index has ceased its four-month decline and shown signs of turning positive in the coming months," said Yan Yuejin, director of Shanghai-based E-house China Research and Development Institution.

The four top-tier cities' new home prices rose 0.6 percent from the previous month, with Beijing taking the lead with an increase of 1 percent, followed by Shanghai (0.6 percent) and Guangzhou and Shenzhen (both 0.5 percent).

Compared to a year ago, these benchmark cities' new home prices grew by 4.4 percent, the same as that of the previous month.

New home prices in 31 second-tier cities tracked by the NBS gained 0.1 percent month-on-month on average in January. And their average prices grew 2.5 percent compared to a year ago. The two figures were negative 0.2 percent and positive 0.5 percent, respectively, in 35 third-tier cities.

Li Yujia, chief researcher at the provincial residential policy research center of Guangdong, attributed the improved performance to the relief measures taken in satisfying reasonable financing and offering favorable mortgage rates since the last quarter of 2021.

Local governments have taken proactive measures in stabilizing the property market and meeting rational demand. Homebuyers' confidence is building up, and the number of cities reporting home price declines shrank from 50 in December to 39 in January, Li said.

Down payments have been cut to 30 percent for second homes since March in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, according to a notice published on the official website of the city's housing provident fund loans management center.

The pre-owned home market showed a similar trend as the new home sector. The 70 cities' existing home prices edged down 0.3 percent month-on-month in January, but grew 0.3 percent year-on-year. The four first-tier cities reported their home prices in the secondary market rose 0.1 percent from the previous month.

The four big cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou reported a 4.1 percent year-on-year growth on average in existing home prices.

In the pre-owned home market, similar measures were adopted to support rational demand and eliminate speculation.

Experts said the cut in mortgage interest rate also helped stabilize the second home market.

The nation's central bank pledged to promote the healthy development of the property sector.

Entering February, as many as 87 cities among the 103 cities Beike Research Institute monitors saw their mainstream home loan interest rate decline month-on-month, 28 more than the previous month, according to Xu Xiaole, chief analyst with the institute.