Home Prices, Real Estate | featured news

Home prices kept rising in July across the United States, buoyed by greater sales and fewer foreclosures. National home prices increased 1.2 percent in July, compared to the same month last year, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller index released Tuesday. That's the second straight year-over-year gain after two years without one.

Nationwide home prices shot up 3.8% in July, making their largest year-over-year leap since 2006, according to real estate data provider CoreLogic. The gain marks the fifth straight rise in the gauge, part of a positive swing following a year and a half of slumps. The last time prices rose so much was in August 2006, when they jumped 4.1%.

Home prices rose more than expected in June, the fifth month in a row of gains in a fresh sign of improvement in the housing market, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday.

Single-family home prices rose for the fourth month in a row in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, suggesting the recovery in the housing market continued to gain traction, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday.

New single-family home sales in June fell by the most in more than a year and prices resumed their downward trend, suggesting a setback for the budding housing market recovery.

U.S. home prices in the second quarter rose from the year-ago period for the first time since 2007, according to a closely watched index, the latest indication that the housing market is starting to recover.

Home resales fell in June but the median sales price was higher than a year earlier as fewer people sold their homes under distressed conditions, giving mixed signals for the country's nascent housing market recovery.

Mortgage debt continues to be a major issue in the United States, nearly six years after home prices peaked, according to a report released last week by online real estate site Zillow. Americans continue to owe more on their homes than they are worth.

Home prices edged higher for the second month in a row in March, suggesting prices are stabilizing as the housing recovery gains momentum.

Home prices rose in March for the first time since last July, helped by tighter housing inventory, data analysis firm CoreLogic said on Tuesday.