China's property market cooling in second half of October

Models of residential buildings are seen at a property showroom in Binjiang district of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, Sept 14, 2016.  [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

BEIJING - China's property sector has shown signs of cooling after authorities stepped in with a spate of measures to contain sky-high prices, an official survey showed Friday, citing fresh data for the second half of October.

Of 70 large and medium-sized cities surveyed in the second half of October, seven saw new home prices declining month on month, up from two in the first half of the month, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

"The property prices have stabilized in the second half of October," the NBS said in a statement.

Compared with September, the month-on-month price index for both new and second-hand residential property in those cities retreated in October, even though most of the cities still reported rises.