BEIJING, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Home prices in 70 major Chinese cities remained generally stable with a slight pickup in large cities in July, official data showed Thursday.

New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- increased 0.3 percent month on month in July, up from the 0.2-percent increase in June, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in an online statement.

On a monthly basis, new home prices in 31 second-tier cities and 35 third-tier cities both climbed 0.7 percent from June.

Prices of resold housing in first-tier cities inched up 0.3 percent month on month in July, while those in second-tier cities reported an increase of 0.4 percent, up 0.1 percentage points from a month earlier.

Resold home prices were up 0.7 percent month on month in third-tier cities, the same pace of growth compared with the previous month.

NBS senior statistician Liu Jianwei said local governments aimed to stabilize land prices, home prices and expectations, and further implemented the long-term mechanism for real estate regulation in July.

On a yearly basis, both new and resold home prices registered increases in most Chinese cities but at an unchanged or slower pace, with second- and third-tier cities reporting stronger growth than large cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

Prices of new housing in first-tier cities grew 4.3 percent in July, while those in second- and third-tier cities jumped 10.7 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively.

New home prices were mainly influenced by real estate regulations, especially the price limit policies, which may be enhanced in cities where housing prices record faster growth, said Zhang Dawei, chief analyst with Centaline Property.

The country has vowed to adhere to the principle that "housing is for living in, not for speculation" and implement the long-term mechanism to maintain the sound development of the real estate market.