Housing prices in 20 big cities fell in July amid government's effort to cool down the industry, said a report from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in Beijing Friday.

The average housing price in 70 big cities showed the sign of slower growth last month, said the report. Property price went up 6.4 percent in July over a year earlier, while in the second quarter, the urban housing price rose eight percent year-on-year.

To improve the statistics work in the property market, an official with NDRC said the agency has added 35 cities in their samples for data collection. NDRC now conducts research in the property markets of 70 big Chinese cities and releases the report every month.

The price of economic housing rose by 1.4 percent year-on-year in July, or up 0.2 percent over June, according to the report.

China's secondary housing market saw price drop 0.4 percent in July over the previous month.

(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2005)