China's housing market remained under pressure in July, with new home prices across 70 large and medium-sized cities down 3.2% from a year earlier and first-tier cities posting a 0.1% monthly decline that ended a four-month recovery trend. National real estate development investment fell 19.2% in the first seven months to 4.3 trillion yuan, underscoring persistent weakness in demand, sales, construction and developer funding. Official data showed new home prices fell 1.1% from a year earlier in the four first-tier cities, 2.8% in 31 second-tier cities and 4.2% in 35 third-tier cities, with Shanghai the only first-tier city to record an annual gain at 3%. The secondary market remained weaker, with secondhand home prices down 3.7%, 5.1% and 5.8% respectively across first-, second- and third-tier cities. New home prices have been falling on an annual basis since April 2022, and the prolonged downturn continues to weigh on household confidence and the broader economy.