U.S. home prices on the rise before coronavirus arrived, index shows

April 28 (UPI) -- New data Tuesday showed housing prices in the United States were on the rise before the coronavirus crisis arrived.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index showed a 4.2 percent rise in annual home price gains in February, about a month before the full impact of the pandemic arrived in the United States. The measure was 3.1 percent in January.

The 20-City Composite showed a 3.5 percent annual gain. Among those cities, Phoenix reported the highest year-over-year increase, followed by Seattle, Tampa, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C..

"The stable growth pattern established in the last half of 2019 continued in February," Craig Lazzara, managing director and global head of index investment strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said.

Lazzara said the data doesn't show the impact of the health crisis.

"[It] shows no signs of adverse effect from the governmental suppression of economic activity in response to the COVID-19 pandemic," he said. "As much of the U.S. economy was shuttered in March, next month's data may begin to reflect the impact of these policies on the housing market."

Earlier this month, the National Association of Realtors reported existing U.S. home sales fell 8.5 percent in March.