WASHINGTON: US home prices gathered momentum in February, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller report released Tuesday.
The Case-Shiller 20-city price index increased 5.0 percent year-over-year, compared with a 4.5 percent gain in January. That beat analysts' consensus estimate of a 4.7 percent gain in February.
"Home prices continue to rise and outpace both inflation and wage gains," said David Blitzer, head of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Seventeen of the 20 cities reported higher year-over-year increases in February than in January.
Two cities, Denver, Colorado, and Dallas, Texas, topped their housing boom price peaks. Denver home prices gained 10.0 percent from a year ago, to an average $160,710, while Dallas homes were up 8.6 percent at $144,430.
On a monthly basis, the 20-city index slipped 0.1 percent.
"Home price growth is rising around the country. For some cities, this is excellent news. Not so for others: while slow and steady growth throughout the country may sound like an unambiguously good thing, some of these markets were unaffordable to begin with and are not getting any cheaper," said IHS Global Insight in a research note.
With growth in a healthy range, "this will provide upside support to inventory growth as the spring selling season proceeds."
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