China's moves to curb property speculation are finding their mark as home prices in nearly three-quarters of its major cities fell in December from November, the government said Wednesday.

Beijing has introduced a range of measures aimed at curbing the real estate market over the last year, such as bans on buying second homes, hiking minimum down-payments and introducing property taxes in select cities.

But analysts worry the correction in the property market could have broader implications for the world's second-largest economy, which is already widely forecast to slow this year from 9.2 percent growth in 2011.

Some 52 of 70 Chinese cities tracked by the government, including Shanghai and Beijing, recorded month-on-month falls in new home prices, the National Bureau of Statistics said, with the total up slightly from 49 in November.

Home prices in two small, inland cities rose in December from the month before, while 16 others were flat, it said.

"If this trend continues, with property transaction volume falling, we will have to see whether China's economy can cope with it," Liu Ligang, head of Greater China economic research for ANZ Group in Hong Kong, told AFP.

With debt-burdened local governments dependent on land sales as a key source of revenue, China could roll back measures to offer them some relief, he said.

China's property market weakened last year, reflected in slower investment and sales, as the government sought to bring down runaway housing prices on fears of a speculative bubble.

Property developers have been hit hard by the policies and a lack of funds after the government hiked interest rates and restricted bank lending to rein in surging inflation and cool real estate prices.

In December, China moved to ease credit by trimming bank reserves but the property industry is waiting to see if the government might relax measures aimed specifically at the sector.

"We believe poor sales will lead to policy relaxation," Australia's Macquarie Securities said in a report Tuesday. "While the central government does not generally sympathise with developers, rapidly decelerating real estate investment growth is a major concern."

Figures released Tuesday showed housing sales -- excluding government subsidised homes -- rose 12.1 percent to 5.91 trillion yuan ($936.3 billion) last year, marking a slowdown from 18.9 percent growth in 2010.

Investment in all types of property rose an annual 27.9 percent to 6.17 trillion yuan in 2011, slowing from growth of 33.2 percent in 2010, the statistics bureau said.

China's prestigious Renmin University has said that the government will likely relax some property market curbs in 2012 due to concerns that slumping prices could hurt economic growth.

But Chinese officials say the measures will remain in place for now. Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said earlier this week that the commercial hub, among China's most active property markets, would maintain the control policies.

Analysts forecast housing prices could fall even further when the measures are eased, as pent-up supply pours into the market.

"These Draconian measures have been in place for more than a year, but if they go on for much longer it starts to get a bit dangerous for the broader economy," said a Shanghai-based property analyst, who spoke on condition on anonymity.