Property prices are still rising

He Meng, a marketing director at Maoyuan Real Estate Co, said the latest tightening policies have had limited impact on high-end projects.

"Wealthy buyers can handle further increases in down payments," said He.

A recent Chinese homebuyers' confidence index, compiled by real estate consultancy company WorldUnion Properties, posted the first decline since the fourth quarter of 2011.

The index stood at 56.8 in the first three months of 2013, down 0.2 percentage point on the previous quarter.

Despite the government's latest rigorous measures to cool the market, more than 70 percent of buyers still forecast further price hikes, a record-high level.

"That is because most of the detailed regulations from local governments are weaker than expected," said Liu Chunyan, general manager of Beijing WorldUnion.

But the number of homebuyers planning to purchase an apartment in the coming three to six months dropped.

Around 40 percent of those surveyed said they wanted to postpone their home purchase plans, and 14.5 percent of buyers said they planned to bring forward their purchases, the report showed.