BEIJING, June 10 (Xinhua) -- China's major property firms saw their financing slump in May as costs rose and the market cooled due to tightened government regulation.

Forty major listed property developers obtained 45.1 billion yuan (about 7 billion U.S. dollars) in total financing last month, down 41.3 percent from a month earlier and the lowest level in a year, according to Shanghai-based real estate consultant firm Tospur.

The companies issued 4 billion yuan of corporate bonds in the domestic market and 1.8 billion yuan in the overseas market, down 65.5 percent and 94.8 percent month on month, respectively.

Chinese local governments have rolled out an array of measures to rein in surging home prices as part of a broader campaign to defuse economic risks, curb property speculation, and toughen scrutiny on capital pumped into real estate developments.

Property development investment in China expanded 10.3 percent year-on-year for January-April, slightly down from 10.4 percent during the first quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

During the period, housing sales measured by floor area grew 1.3 percent, with the growth down from 3.6 percent for January-March.