BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- Home prices in China's first-tier cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, increased slightly in April from the previous month, while second- and third-tier cities reported narrowed or unchanged price declines, official data showed Monday.

New home prices in the four first-tier cities edged up 0.1 percent month-on-month in April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Second-tier cities saw a smaller price decline of 0.1 percent, while prices in third-tier cities dropped 0.3 percent, the same with the previous month.

Similar trends were seen in the resale housing market, the data showed.

The NBS monthly report tracks residential property prices in 70 major Chinese cities, comprising the four first-tier cities, 31 second-tier cities, and 35 third-tier cities.

Wang Zhonghua, an NBS statistician, said 21 of the 70 cities recorded month-on-month increases or unchanged prices in the new home market, five more than in March. The figure in the resale market was 16, down by one from the previous month.

On a yearly basis, sales prices across all city tiers generally declined. However, the first-tier cities saw a narrowing of price drops in both new and resale home markets. Most other major cities reported narrower or unchanged declines, although third-tier cities saw slightly faster declines in new home prices. ■