Overall land prices in Japan fell for the ninth straight year but are declining more slowly in urban areas, the National Land Agency said Tuesday.

In the 12 months to July 1, prices for residential land dropped 2.9 percent from a year earlier, compared with 2.7 percent last year, while prices for commercial-use land fell 6.3 percent, compared with a 6.6 percent drop a year earlier, the agency said.

The nation's three major urban areas -- Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka -- saw average land prices drop 6 percent for residential property and 9.2 percent in commercial areas, for declines of 0.4 percentage point and 1.4 percentage points from the previous year.