By: CNBC.com With Reuters
U.S. single-family home prices rose in August, the latest sign that the housing market is on the mend, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday.
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It was
the seventh straight month of increases, extending the longest
continuous string of gains since prices were boosted by the homebuyer
tax credit in 2009 and 2010.
The
sustained good news in home prices "makes us optimistic for continued
recovery in the housing market," David Blitzer, chairman of the index
committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement.
"Even as we end the seasonally strong home buying period, the statistics are positive," said Blitzer.
On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, prices fared better, gaining 0.9 percent.
Prices in the 20 cities climbed 2 percent year-over-year, topping expectations for a 1.9 percent increase.
Robert
Gray, managing partner of real estate private equity firm TerraCap
Management, said the residential recovery bodes well for the commercial
sector: "We think the commercial real estate market, including hotels,
office complexes and some retail properties, will now start to recover.
Those who missed the boat on the residential recovery would be wise to
look into commercial real estate."
S&P
500 futures edged up following the data, but the stock market will be
closed for a second day in a row in the wake of a powerful storm that
hit the east coast.
Compared
to a year ago, prices in Phoenix surged 18.8 percent, the fourth month
in a row the hard-hit city has seen double-digit yearly gains, the
report said.
Prices
in Las Vegas — also one of the more distressed areas in the years since
the end of the housing boom - were up 0.9 percent compared to a year
ago, the first annual increase since January 2007.
Of the 20 cities in the index, three saw a yearly decline in prices, with Atlanta faring the worst, down 6.1 percent.
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