BEIJING, May 11 -- China's property market is entering an "autumn season" marked by a reasonable drop in house prices, an expert said Sunday.

"The property industry is indeed experiencing a turning point at present, but there will not be a sharp decline like the one that appeared in the United States in 2007 and 2008," Li Daokui, professor with Tsinghua University and a former advisor to China's central bank, said at a forum.

The market will enter an "autumn," but not a "winter," Li said.

Chinese homeowners are not likely to sell off their property as many Americans did ahead of the financial crisis, he said.

Since the beginning of this year, the country's formerly red-hot property market showed increasing signs of cooling down, igniting worries about a plunge in home prices this year.

Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed the total area of commercial property sold in the first quarter dropped 3.8 percent year on year, and combined sales revenue dropped 5.2 percent.

Home prices in major Chinese cities grew at a slower pace in March, with fewer cities reporting month-on-month price gains, according to the NBS.