BEIJING -- Fewer Chinese cities saw home price rises in September from August as the country continued efforts to curb property prices and speculation, it was revealed on Thursday.

In September, 31 cities, down from 36 in August, out of a statistical pool of 70 major cities recorded higher new home prices than a month earlier, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Compared with August, new home prices in 24 cities declined in August, up from 20 in August, while 15 cities saw their new home prices unchanged, the data showed.

On a year-on-year basis, fewer cities saw rebounds in new home prices last month, with 12 out of the 70 cities witnessing price increases of up to 1.2 percent. Prices rose in 14 cities in August from one year earlier.