BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China continued to see a generally stable housing market in December, with home prices in 70 major cities showing mild month-on-month increases, official data showed Friday.

New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- rose 0.3 percent month on month in December, compared with a 0.2-percent increase registered in November, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The country's 31 second-tier cities saw a month-on-month increase of 0.1 percent in new home prices, while 35 third-tier cities witnessed a month-on-month rise of 0.1 percent in new home prices last month.

The resold home market in first-tier cities saw prices increase 0.6 percent month on month in December, edging up 0.1 percentage points from November.

Prices of resold homes in second-tier cities saw a 0.1-percent month-on-month increase, while that in third-tier cities climbed 0.2 percent.

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

The resold home prices in first-tier cities grew 8.6 percent from a year earlier, expanding by 0.3 percentage points from the growth seen in November.

In December, local governments continued to implement the long-term mechanism in the housing market and adopted measures to promote the steady and sound development of the sector, said Sheng Guoqing, a senior NBS statistician.