BEIJING -- Home prices remain a major concern in China, with 52.7 percent of people surveyed by the central bank describing prices in the fourth quarter as "high and hard to accept."

The ratio was down 1 percentage point from the previous quarter, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said Thursday after a survey of over 20,000 savers.

Looking ahead to the first quarter of next year, 26.9 percent expect prices to rise, while 50.1 percent expect them to be unchanged.

Despite a government destocking campaign, home prices in major Chinese cities have stayed high and smaller cities have struggled to clear the glut.

The central bank also found 44.4 percent of those surveyed thought inflation was "high and hard to accept," down 5.6 percentage points from the third quarter.

In the job market, around 39.5 percent considered the employment situation "severe." The job expectation index was 49.4, up 3.2 percentage points from the previous quarter.