BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Home prices in 70 major Chinese cities continued to stabilize despite slight increases in April, data showed Thursday.

New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- increased 0.6 percent month on month in April, up from the 0.2-percent increase in March, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in a statement.

New home prices climbed 0.8 percent in 31 second-tier cities, and rose 0.5 percent in 35 third-tier cities.

As for resold homes, prices in the four first-tier cities reported a 0.4-percent growth month on month, while those in 31 second-tier cities went up 0.6 percent, narrowing from the 1.2-percent increase in March.

A total of 12 cities reported month-on-month drops of resold home prices in April, up from 10 registered in March.

Local governments kept differentiated real estate policies in April to maintain stable development of the property market, Liu Jianwei, an NBS senior statistician, noted.

On a year-on-year basis, new house prices in April in first-tier cities grew 4.7 percent, while that for second-tier cities and third-tier cities rose 12.3 percent and 11.3 percent, respectively.

Other than Shanghai, major Chinese cities all registered higher resold home prices compared with a year ago.

The growth of resold home prices expanded 0.3 percentage points and 0.1 percentage points in first and second-tier cities respectively, while the growth in the third-tier cities remained flat at 8.4 percent, according to the NBS.

Home prices in China continued the upward trend in April as the country's banks relatively eased lending and the public's demand for purchasing houses further unleashed, said Yan Yuejin, a senior researcher with E-house.

Local governments, however, are unlikely to loosen property policies aiming at curbing the home prices that continue to heat up in consideration of the robust growth of home prices in the second and third-tier cities in the first quarter, according to a Moody's report.

China's property sector has cooled in recent years after runaway home prices fueled speculation and triggered government curbs aimed at preventing asset bubbles.

Last month, a meeting held by the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee reiterated that the country should stick to the principle that "housing is for living in, not speculation."