Home prices in China's 70 major cities saw month-on-month declines continue to narrow in February, while remaining lower than a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday.

Prices of newly built homes in first-tier cities were unchanged from the previous month, compared with a 0.3% drop in January. Beijing and Shanghai each rose 0.2%, Guangzhou was flat and Shenzhen fell 0.3%.

Prices in second- and third-tier cities declined 0.2% and 0.3% respectively, with both drops narrowing by 0.1 percentage point. Of the 70 cities surveyed, prices of newly built homes rose in 10 and were unchanged in seven, nine more than a month earlier.

Prices of existing homes in first-tier cities fell 0.1% from a month earlier, with the decline narrowing by 0.4 percentage point. Beijing and Shanghai rose 0.3% and 0.2%, while Guangzhou and Shenzhen dropped 0.5% and 0.4%.

On a yearly basis, prices of newly built homes in first-tier cities fell 2.2% in February. Shanghai rose 4.2% from a year earlier, while Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen declined 2.3%, 5.1% and 5.5%.

Existing-home prices in first-tier cities fell 7.6% year on year, unchanged from January, while second- and third-tier cities recorded declines of 6.2% and 6.3% respectively.