U.S. home prices show long-term growth

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NEW YORK, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- U.S. home prices rose 4.3 percent September-to-October, pointing to a sustained market recovery, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller report said Wednesday.

Price gains beat the consensus forecast, which called for prices to climb 4 percent.

Seasonal declines showed up as expected, the monthly report said, as prices fell month-to-month in 12 of 20 markets in the 20-city index. But prices in the 10-city index rose 3.4 percent over 12 months, pointing to faster gains in October than September, when the 10-city index was up 2.1 percent on an annual basis and the 20-city index was up 3 percent on an annual basis.

The annual gain in October was higher than the annual gain in September in 19 of 20 cities tracked.

Only Chicago and New York posted negative annual returns n October. Phoenix posted price gains for the 13th consecutive month. San Diego, next on the list, posted gains for the ninth consecutive month.

"The October monthly numbers were weaker than September as 12 cities saw prices drop compared to seven the month before," said David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Month-to-month declines were posted in October in Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, N.C., Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Seattle, Tampa, Fla., and Washington. Chicago was the weakest among all 20 cities, with prices dropping 1.5 percent, followed by Boston, where prices fell 1.4 percent. Las Vegas recorded the strongest one-month gain with prices up 2.8 percent, followed by Phoenix, with prices up 1.4 percent.

Prices were flat from September to October in Denver.