The real estate market in Beijing continued to improve in the first quarter of 2016, mainly driven by strong demand, according to data released on Tuesday.

Nationwide, the divergence between first-tier cities including Beijing and Shanghai and second- and third-tier cities remained intact, and persistent rising inventories of unsold property pose challenges for the country's destocking effort, analysts noted.

Commercial property prices in the nation's capital remained strong in the first quarter, with the average monthly rental rate up 1.7 percent to 380.8 yuan ($58.4) per square meter from the previous quarter, data released by global commercial real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield showed.

The price increase was supported by strong demand, mostly from domestic financial companies, despite rising supply, Cushman & Wakefield said in a press release on Tuesday.

In the quarter, a total 260,000 square meters of new office space was added and the vacancy rate rose 1.1 percentage points from the previous quarter to 5.6 percent, according to the press release.              

The residential property sector in Beijing also saw a price rise in the quarter, with the average price increasing 8.3 percent from the previous quarter and 20.24 percent from a year earlier to 30,585 yuan per square meter, Cushman & Wakefield's data showed.

The company attributed the gain in residential property prices to a short supply of land in the capital city and strong demand boosted by government policies such as loosening home purchase requirements for out-of-city buyers.

Nationally, real estate markets in first-tier and some second-tier cities remained strong, while other smaller cities faced "serious problems," Lu Ming, an expert at Cushman & Wakefield in Beijing, told a press briefing on Tuesday.

"It's a tale of two worlds," Lu said.

Housing markets in most of the smaller cities are still oversupplied, according to Lu.

Meanwhile, supplies are still rising, Wang Chen, another expert at Cushman & Wakefield, said at the same briefing in Beijing.

National inventories of unsold residential property keep rising, although at a slower pace, at a speed of 4.6 million square meters per month. The stock of unsold commercial property is increasing at 4.5 million square meters per month, according to Wang.

With supply still rising, China's efforts at destocking will face some challenges, Wang said.

He said that in addition to government policies, real estate companies can also take measures to destock, such as improving professional operating capabilities to boost sales.