BEIJING -- China continued to see a generally stable housing market in December, with home prices in 70 major cities showing mild month-on-month increases, official data showed Friday.

New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- rose 0.3 percent month-on-month in December, compared with a 0.2-percent increase registered in November, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The country's 31 second-tier cities saw a month-on-month increase of 0.1 percent in new home prices, while 35 third-tier cities witnessed a month-on-month rise of 0.1 percent in new home prices last month.