BEIJING -- Home prices in 100 Chinese cities saw a slight decline in February, an industrial report showed.

Among the 100 surveyed cities, average new home prices dropped 0.24 percent to 15,173 yuan ($2,178) per square meters in February from January, according to China Index Academy, a property research institution.

Year on year, the average new home prices edged up 3.05 percent.

A total of 72 cities saw a month-on-month decline in home prices in February, while 26 cities saw home prices increase and the rest two cities reported unchanged home prices.

Amid the outbreak of novel coronavirus, many cities have suspended house sales activities, as well as the construction of apartments, weighing on the capital-intensive sector's operation, according to the report.

The report forecast that China's real estate policy will remain stable in 2020, adding that local governments should fine-tune their real estate market policies with reasonable and targeted support for the sector.