Shanghai's commercial real estate and housing sales dropped 15.9 percent year on year in the first four months of 2012 as government curbs continued to cool the market.

Property developers sold 4.4 million square meters of commercial real estate and housing during the January-April period, the Shanghai municipal bureau of statistics said in a statement Wednesday.

Of the total, home sales fell 8 percent year-on-year to 3.9 million square meters.

Tough government curbs, including higher lending rates, a ban on mortgage loans for third homes and purchase restrictions, have curbed speculation in the property market, the bureau said.

As a result of the gloomy market, prices for both new and second-hand homes in the country's financial and business center fell during the six months leading up to March.

In March, the prices of new and second-hand homes dropped 0.2 percent and 0.5 percent month on month, respectively, and 0.8 percent and 1 percent year on year, respectively.