A 44 percent drop was seen in May compared with April in?the total?areas of property?sold in over 30 major Chinese cities, according to figures from Century 21 China Real Estate, a US-invested Chinese property agent, the Economic Information Daily reported Tuesday.

Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen were the most severely affected cities, with declines in resale building deals of 58.8%, 69% and 24.1%, respectively, and the negotiated price scale expanded, Century 21 said.

The drop in price was due to the recent real estate control policies, said Qi Fan, a real estate analyst from Century 21.

On the prospects of the future housing market, Chen Guoqiang, a researcher of China Real Estate Society (CRES) said it would improve as long as the price gap narrows between house-buyers' expectations and real market price.

"Because of recent property policies that make buyers and even developers adopt a wait-and-see attitude, and as markets adjust to these policies, such drops will recover," Chen added.