The growth of investment in the property sector continued to slow in August, according to the NBS on September 13.

NBS data showed real estate investment rose 13.2 percent year on year in the first eight months to 5.9 trillion yuan ($959.44 billion), 0.5 percentage points lower than the growth in the January-July period.

Investment in residential property, which accounted for 68.1 percent of the total, rose 12.4 percent year on year, compared with a 13.3-percent growth rate for the first seven months.

The slower growth was accompanied by a faster decline in the area and volume of property sales.

The total area of property sales dropped by 8.3 percent from a year ago, 0.7 percentage points steeper than the decline seen in the January-July period.

Property sales volume fell 8.9 percent year on year during the period, compared with a drop of 8.2 percent in the January-July period.

China's property sector has been cooling since the beginning of the year, with key indicators such as investment slowing for seven months straight and an increasing number of cities posting falling house prices.

On the other hand, the government has stepped up construction of affordable housing and shantytown renovation projects to help boost regional growth. By the end of July, 3.4 million units of affordable housing had been completed, or 70 percent of the government's annual target.