The housing market data followed indicators earlier this week that showed retail sales and industrial output slowed.
The housing market data followed other signs that China's economy is weakening further.
And consumer prices dropped annually in July for the first time in two years, joining producer prices in deflation territory.
"Housing prices are going down, so people aren't making purchases," Dexter Roberts, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, told Insider in a recent interview.
The Chinese government won't be able to lift the property sector without that confidence."
Persons:
Dexter Roberts
Organizations:
Service, National Bureau of Statistics, Bloomberg, Atlantic Council
Locations:
Wall, Silicon, Shenzhen