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China's property market is expected to remain largely stable in 2021 with a decline expected in land transactions and the rise in the cost of homes slowing to around 10 percent, a research institute of the major Chinese real estate platform Ke.com forecasted Tuesday, predicting an end to the era of broad-based gains in the housing market.

The housing market has remained resilient this year despite fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, with land sales, new homes purchases and resales all posting new highs, which played an active part in buttressing the economic recovery, according to an annual report released by the research institute at an event in Beijing.

The recovery in the housing market this year was not stimulus-driven, the report said, noting that the central government has held onto the principle that houses are for people to inhabit, not for speculation and toughened financial regulation, according to the report. 

Newly added property loans are estimated to reach about 6 trillion yuan ($918.64 billion), roughly the same as last year. As of the end of the third quarter, growth in outstanding property loans had moderated for the eighth consecutive quarter, according to Ke.com's research institute.

The country will continue a macro prudent monetary policy to handle multiple uncertainties facing the economy next year, while deepening efforts to deleverage housing finance to foster a balanced development between the property market, financial sector and the real economy, the research institute predicts. 

Home sales will remain flat next year compared to this year as measured by transactions. The price of pre-owned home is projected to rise about 5 percent in 2021 compared to a 7 percent gain this year, reads the report.

Home prices in the Yangtze River Delta region will show a mild spike in 2021, while the housing market in the Pearl River Delta region and other non-core cities is likely to cool as a consequence of tightening measures, the report said.