BEIJING -- Forty-four major Chinese cities saw prices for new homes fall in August as the result of tightening measures put in place by the government to cool the country's property market, according to the data published by the China Index Academy (CIA) on Thursday.

On a month-on-month basis, prices for new homes in 44 of the 100 cities currently participating in a CIA survey saw declines in August, up from 33 cities in July, according to a report issued by the CIA, one of the nation's largest property research institutes.

However, the other 56 cities still reported month-on-month increases in housing prices, the report said.

New home prices across the surveyed cities stood at an average of 8,880 yuan ($1,392) per square meter in August, a slight increase of six yuan over July, according to the report.

On a year-on-year basis, home prices in the surveyed cities rose 6.93 percent in August, with only four cities registering falling prices, the report said.

Meanwhile, home prices in ten first-tier cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, dropped 0.41 percent in August from July, the first decline since September of last year. Seven of the first-tier cities saw month-on-month declines, the report said.

The government adopted a slew of measures earlier this year to contain rapidly rising real estate prices. These measures included purchase restrictions in first-tier cities, higher minimum down payment requirements and property taxes in the municipalities of Chongqing and Shanghai.