BEIJING - Commercial housing sales in Beijing fell 17.8 percent year-on-year in the first ten months of the year, a sign that the slew of government measures to cool down the property market have taken effect.

The total area of commercial housing sold slumped to 6.97 million square meters during the January-October period, the Beijing statistics bureau said in a statement Monday.

Earlier this year, the city government rolled out measures -- including higher mortgage rates, a ban on third-home mortgage loans and purchase restrictions -- to clamp down on market speculation.

Besides slumps in transaction volume, prices also fell. According to the Beijing Real Estate Association, prices for new residential apartments in the Chinese capital dropped 5.1 percent year-on-year during the same period.

Amid other cooling signs, real estate agencies in Beijing have closed nearly 1,000 outlets so far this year, with 177 in October alone, according to a survey released by Home Link China last week.

Sales of government-subsidized affordable housing for low-income earners, however, jumped 56.8 percent year-on-year to 2.1 million square meters during the ten months, the Beijing statistics bureau said.

The new affordable housing starts surged 2.1 times to 15 million square meters in floor area as the government sought to build more such housing to help tame high housing prices.