BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- China's property market remains generally stable as the government continues stepping-up property curbs.

New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- rose 0.2 percent in July from a month ago, 0.4 percentage points lower than that in June, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Wednesday.

New home prices in Shanghai fell while prices in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen rose 0.2 percent, 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

New home prices in 31 second-tier cities rose 1.1 percent in July, 0.1 percentage points lower than June.

On a yearly basis, first-tier cities reported a 0.2-percent increase in new home prices. Existing home prices rose 0.5 percent, 0.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

NBS senior statistician Liu Jianwei said local governments continued to step up property regulation in July and strike a balance between demand and supply to promote the healthy development of the sector.

New home prices declined year-on-year in two of the 15 "hotspot" cities where speculative home purchases are monitored, with the most significant price drop of 0.1 percent last month, with 11 cities posting growth and two staying flat.

During previous years, rocketing housing prices, especially in major cities, fueled concerns about asset bubbles. To curb speculation, the government rolled out various control measures, including restrictions on purchases and increasing minimum downpayments for mortgages.

Major cities announced 260 control measures during the first seven months this year, 80 percent more than the same period last year, according to the research center of the Centaline Group.

Analysts expect more control measures to be announced as the central authority vowed to regulate the property market order and "firmly curb the rise in home prices" at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee last month.

The government will accelerate the establishment of a long-term mechanism to promote the stable and healthy development of the market, Cong Liang, spokesperson of the National Development and Reform Commission, told a press conference Wednesday.

The property market will continue adjusting amid the increasingly tightened regulation, said Liu Weimin, researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council.