US home prices rose 12.4 percent in July from the previous year, the biggest annual gain since February 2006.
Adjusted for seasonal variations, home prices rose 0.6 percent from June to July, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index of 20 cities. On a non-adjusted basis, prices rose 1.8 percent. Las Vegas demonstrated the largest month-over-month increase, with 2.5 percent.
All the 20 metropolitan areas measured in the index had year-over-year gains. Again, Las Vegas showed the biggest leap, with a 27.5 percent annual surge. San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego rounded out the top four cities, with year-over-year gains of 24.8 percent, 20.8 percent and 20.4 percent, respectively
“The Southwest continues to lead the housing recovery,” David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee, said in a statement. However, “more cities are experiencing slow gains each month than the previous month, suggesting that the rate of increase may have peaked.”
Home prices in July were approximately 21 percent below a 2006 peak.
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