HOME prices in China rose for the ninth consecutive month in February, though at a slower pace, with nearly three fourths of the cities monitored by a key research institute seeing gains from January.

The average price of new residential properties across 100 major mainland cities climbed 0.83 percent from a month earlier to 9,893 yuan (US$1,575) per square meter, decelerating from January's 1 percent increase, the China Index Academy said today.

Forty-one of the 74 cities that posted gains saw an increase of more than 1 percent. In January, 64 cities recorded growth, with 38 seeing a rise of more than 1 percent.

Changshu in eastern Jiangsu Province led February's gainers with a 4.05 percent rise.

Twenty-six cities reported price drops, with nine retreating by more than 1 percent.

"The central government's latest pledge to maintain tightening measures, coupled with sluggish supply and sales during the Spring Festival holiday period, damped price growth last month," the academy's report said. "On a year-on-year basis, however, home prices climbed for the third straight month at a faster pace."

In the country's 10 largest cities, the average price for a home rose 1.1 percent from January to 16,596 yuan per square meter, with Shenzhen and Guangzhou both seeing gains of more than 2 percent. Prices grew 1.33 percent in Shanghai and 0.86 percent in Beijing.