Has spring sprung for housing sector?

The favorable policies will help the housing sector's performance recover "to some extent", believes Zhang Dong, head of the property research institute of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in central China's Hubei Province.

However, the warming signs seem insufficient proof to conclude that spring has sprung for the property sector.

On a year-on-year basis, new home prices in those 100 cities dropped 4.35 percent last month, widening from a drop of 3.84 percent in February, the academy's data showed.

Zhang said prices might begin picking up in first-tier cities and some cities with relatively low stockpiles, but home-purchase restrictions in some major cities will not allow a sharp rebound in housing demand for investment purposes.

Second-tier cities, including many provincial capitals, will benefit most from the measures, but smaller ones will find it hard to increase flagging housing demand, the expert warned.

"It will take more time and more favorable measures for the property sector to fully recover," he said.