On Sunday, China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said that it would support municipal governments, especially those in the first-tier cities, to leverage their decision-making powers to regulate the real estate market, and adjust policies restricting housing purchases based on local conditions.

Six of China's biggest banks said they would tweak interest rates on mortgages for existing home loans following a request to lower them from Beijing's central bank, state media said Monday, as the country seeks to pull itself out of a housing slump.