beijing jan 1 reuters  chinas december new home prices declined at a slower pace compared with a month earlier a privatesector survey showed on saturday offering a tentative sign of stabilising demand after authorities took steps to avert a hard landing for the market new home prices in 100 cities fell 002 in december from a month earlier narrowing from the 004 drop in november according to data from china index academy one of the countrys largest independent real estate research firms chinas property sector was hammered in 2021 after beijing stepped up its deleveraging campaign against highly indebted developers that worsened a liquidity crisis delayed project completions and rocked buyer sentiment in recent months the government has marginally eased property financing to prevent a hard landing for the sector although it has not reversed its curbs designed to reduce leverage and discourage speculation in december several cities also implemented measures to boost home sales and mitigate local property distress including the providing of subsidies or deed tax cuts for home buyers chinas top real estate regulator recently said it would keep its real estate policies consistent and stable while strengthening coordination in areas including finance and land and market supervision read more reporting by ryan woo and gao liangping editing by kim coghill