SHANGHAI'S existing housing index climbed slightly last month as the government's tightening policies again hit buying sentiment which started to recover in September.

The index, which monitors price fluctuations of existing houses across the city, gained 4 points, or 0.16 percent, to 2,553, the Shanghai Existing House Index Office said yesterday.

The index gained 0.23 percent in September amid recovering demand after declining for three consecutive months.

"A wait-and-see attitude prevailed again among local buyers, manifested by a significant drop in transaction volume, due to the latest government decision to restrict the number of homes a family can purchase," said Tao Ting, an analyst with the index office. "However, housing prices still remained stable despite a sluggish momentum."

Shanghai on October 7 unveiled a new set of tightening measures as the city took further steps to clamp down on property speculation. In a most notable move, Shanghai has joined Beijing in capping the number of homes a family can purchase. A family - local households and those from other parts of the country - is entitled to buy only one home in the city "for a certain period of time."

Across the city, the prices of existing homes in five downtown districts rose 0.27 percent last month, compared with a gain of 0.1 percent in September. The office also said prices in 45 of the 70 areas tracked by the compiler grew.