BEIJING- Property prices in China in October grew at their slowest pace in more than three years, government figures showed Tuesday.

Prices in 70 major cities across the country rose by 1.6 percent year on year, down from 3.5 percent in September, said the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planning agency.

The figure represents the lowest growth since the government started releasing monthly statistics of property prices in July 2005.

Property prices in Shenzhen city, which is just north to Hong Kong, posted the biggest loss among all the cities, declining 12.6 percent from a year earlier, according to a statement on the commission's website.

The weakening property market is likely to place further pressure on China's slowing economy as investment in the sector accounts for more than 20 percent of the country's urban fixed-asset investment.

In order to keep the property market growing, Premier Wen Jiabao has said that increasing investment in low-price housing projects will be one of the priorities when the government rolls out a 586-billion-dollar stimulus package.