SHANGHAI'S existing housing index fell for the third straight month in December, with prices declining in 80 percent of the areas monitored.

The index, which tracks price fluctuations of the city's previously occupied homes, lost 6 points, or 0.22 percent, from November to 2,586, the Shanghai Existing House Index Office said yesterday.

"As austerity measures continued to persist, more property owners seemed willing to offer larger price cuts," said Zhang Shu, an analyst at the index office. "Particularly, some owners in outlying districts have offered a discount of about 15 percent to lure buyers after a number of developers in the same area began to give discounts of between 20 and 30 percent."

The price cuts in prime areas, however, were still largely confined to mostly between 4 and 6 percent, the office said.