BEIJING -- China's housing rental market maintained moderate growth in the first quarter despite that the novel coronavirus outbreak wreaked havoc on economic activities, an industry report said.

In the first three months of this year, rental yield, mainly used to gauge property incomes, kept generally stable in 50 cities to stand at 2.4 percent, according to a report released by E-house China R&D Institute.

The report also noted that the rent prices in 50 cities saw 1.2-percent uptick quarter on quarter, with housing price up by 1.6 percent from one quarter earlier.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, the rental yield rate in first-tier cities contracted 0.04 percentage points during the period, while the reading in second-tier cities rose 0.02 percentage points. The third- and fourth-tier cities dipped by 0.03 percentage points.