The overheated residential property markets in 15 key cities in China "obviously cooled down" in November, said a research report from the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday, based on housing price data from 70 monitored cities.

Prices of newly-built properties went down in four cities, and prices of pre-owned properties declined in seven, showing that measures by various cities to use steps appropriate to local conditions to curb too fast growing housing prices have been effective, and housing prices are stabilizing, said Liu Jianwei, senior statistician with NBS.

Average housing prices dropped the most in Chengdu, by 0.8 percent. Shenzhen, Chengdu, Urumqi, Baotou, Mudanjiang, Luzhou and Nanchong also saw drops, said the report.