RESIDENTIAL housing prices in Shenzhen continued falling in the second quarter with property prices in 55 of the city's 56 neighborhoods lower than in the first quarter, according to the latest statistics released by the city housing watchdog Wednesday.

Of 55 neighborhoods, Longgang neighborhood had the biggest fall of 9 percent, followed by Bao'an Central and Longgang Central neighborhoods, where average property prices were down 8 percent from the first quarter.

Xiaomeisha neighborhood in Yantian District was the only area where prices remained unchanged in the second quarter.

Most neighborhoods outside the Special Economic Zone in Bao'an and Longgang districts had the biggest price falls, while Luohu and Futian districts had smaller decreases, official statistics showed.

There was an increasing number of transactions in March due to some promotions by property developers, such as the release of a number of apartments at "special prices" and free balcony offered with the purchase of an apartment. However, the market in general was still going down, compared to the fast growth since 2005, Thursday's Daily Sunshine quoted officials with the land resources and housing management bureau as saying.

The unidentified officials said the market would remain on the downturn for a few more months, but they did not elaborate. In 2007, sales of apartments plunged by almost 30 percent compared with 2006. The number was the lowest since 2000.

Housing prices started to fall in the second half of 2007 following a series of policies introduced by the government to intervene in the over-heated property market which had seen prices double since 2005.

(Wei Jie)