Property market takes a hit after 17 months of increase

China's market for homes cooled down a bit in July with sales down on a yearly basis after rising for 17 consecutive months, a report said.

New residential property transactions across the nation's 30 major cities slid 9.7 percent year-on-year in July to 14.77 million square meters, ending a 17-month rising streak, the latest E-house China R&D Institute report showed.

A total of 2.67 million sq m of residential area was traded in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in July, down 22.9 percent from June and down 24.2 percent from a year ago. Shenzhen led the decline by posting a month-on-month fall of 32.2 percent, trailed by Shanghai's 29.4 percent, Beijing's 25.8 percent and Guangzhou's 5.7 percent drops.