BEIJING, Oct. 18 -- The decline in the prices of commercial residential homes in China's 70 large and medium-sized cities stabilized on a month-on-month basis in September, official data showed on Friday.

In the country's first-tier cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, new home prices edged down by 0.5 percent, compared with a 0.3-percent drop in the previous month. Second- and third-tier cities both registered declines of 0.7 percent month on month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In September, prices of second-hand homes fell by 1.2 percent in first-tier cities month on month, 0.9 percent in second-tier and third-tier cities, the NBS said.