China's home price rises abated in August as fewer cities saw a price increase than the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.

Among the 70 major cities in China, 36 experienced a price jump month-on-month in August, compared with 50 in July. The average price increase was 1.3 percent. Twenty cities saw a price drop compared with nine in July, according to the bureau.

"After a strong rebound in the past few months, market demand is saturated. If the policies remain unchanged and the new demand can't catch up, the market will gradually return back to a normal level," said Zhang Lei, an analyst with Century 21st.

The pre-owned home market, however, remained stable in August, with 38 cities seeing a pick-up in prices on a monthly basis, the same as July.

huhuanyuan@chinadaily.com.cn