GUANGZHOU, Nov. 19 -- Strong housing sales in Guangzhou, capital of the southern bustling Guangdong Province, since October have helped push down inventory.

Guangzhou, like other major cities across China, saw the real estate sector recover after authorities eased mortgage lending at the end of September.

Previously, home inventories were overstocked due to a gloomy property market.

Local property developers sold 7,000 new homes in October, a monthly high this year, compared to 4,000 units in September. By Nov. 16, a further 3,000 homes had been sold, said the city's land resources and housing management bureau.

Due to strong sales, the city's new housing inventory has slipped by 2.8 percent to 9.72 million square meters on Nov. 17 from around 10 million square meters in early October, said the bureau.

But the number of new homes for sale is still at a high level of 74,000 units, which need at least 12 months to digest provided at the current pace.