China’s decline in new-home prices eased for a fifth month in January, suggesting values are beginning to stabilize as policymakers step up efforts to end the property slump.

New-home prices in 70 cities, excluding state-subsidized housing, fell 0.07 percent from December, when they declined 0.08 percent, National Bureau of Statistics figures showed Wednesday. Values of used homes, which are subject to less government intervention, fell 0.34 percent, compared with a 0.31 percent drop a month earlier.

The figures offer a glimmer of hope for officials that are trying to end the housing slump that has weighed on Asia’s largest economy for more than three years. Still, a solid rebound in sales is a prerequisite to put a floor under prices, according to Fitch Ratings.

“We turn less bearish on the sector from February,” Citigroup analysts including Griffin Chan wrote in a recent report, citing better-than-expected new home sales from the start of the year and a sharp rebound in homebuyer visits. The property sector has shown “early signs on the path to stabilization,” they wrote.