[National Bureau of Statistics: The year-on-year decline in the sales price of commercial housing in first-, second- and third-tier cities continued to narrow in August] According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics on September 15, the sales price of newly-built commercial housing in first-tier cities fell by 0.9% year-on-year in August, and the decline narrowed by 0.2 percentage points from the previous month. Among them, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen decreased by 2.3%, 1.9% and 2.3% respectively, while Shanghai increased by 3.0%. The sales prices of newly built commercial residential buildings in second- and third-tier cities fell by 2.7% and 4.1% respectively year-on-year, with both declines narrowing by 0.1 percentage point. In August, the sales price of second-hand housing in first-tier cities fell by 2.7% year-on-year, and the rate of decline narrowed by 1.0 percentage points from the previous month. Among them, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen dropped by 3.5%, 0.8%, 3.8% and 2.7% respectively. The sales price of second-hand housing in second- and third-tier cities fell by 4.9% and 5.6% respectively year-on-year, with the decline narrowing by 0.2 percentage points in both cases.