HOME prices in the majority of Chinese cities continued to decline last month as the government curbs on the residential market maintained, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics today.

Excluding government-funded affordable housing, prices fell month-on-month in 45 out of the 70 cities monitored by the bureau in February, while records of 21 cities remained unchanged. The rest four cities Ji'nan, Guiyang, Baotou and Xining all edged up by 0.1 percent.

In Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, where home purchase restrictions have been strictly enforced, new home prices fell by 0.2 percent in February from the previous month, compared to a month-on-month loss of between 0.1 and 0.3 percent in January.

"The southward trend will maintain as no sign of policy loosening could be expected any time soon," said Sky Xue, an analyst at China Real Estate Information Corp.