WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Home prices rose from June to July, a government agency and a private firm reported Tuesday.
The Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes showed prices up 1.9 percent in a 10-city index and 1.8 percent in a larger, encompassing, 20-city index.
For four consecutive months, home prices have risen in all 20 monitored cities, the closely watched monthly report said.
Home prices in Phoenix are on a 22-month streak, the report said.
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On a 12-month basis, prices have increased 12.3 percent on the 10-city index and 12.4 percent on the 20-city index.
In 13 of 20 cities, the annual rate of gain accelerated in July compared to June. The highest gain came from Las Vegas, where prices were up 24.9 percent from June 2012 and to June 2013 are now up 27.5 percent from July 2012.
Prices also rose among homes monitored by the U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency .
The agency, which tracks prices of homes with mortgages backed by the Federal National Mortgage Association or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., better known as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, said prices were up 1 percent from June to July.
July marks the 18th consecutive month home prices rose. The agency also said its June index increase of 0.7 percent was not revised.
From July 2008, the agency said, prices in July were up 8.8 percent. The index, however, remains 9.6 percent below its April 2007 peak.
Roughly, home prices are at the level they were at in March 2005.
From June to July, the largest price decline out of nine census divisions was in the East South Central division, where prices fell 0.7 percent.
East South Central includes Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi.
The largest gain was in the Pacific division -- Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington -- where prices rose 2.2 percent month to month.
From July 2012, prices have risen 3.8 percent in the East South Central division, which posted the smallest gains, and 20.8 percent in the Pacific division, which posted the largest gains.
