US home prices rise in March

U.S. home prices rose in March but its annual rate of increase slowed, a leading measure of U.S. home prices showed Tuesday. In March, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices show the 10-City and 20-City Composite Indices gained 0.8 percent and 0.9 percent month-over-month respectively, said S&P Dow Jones Indices in a report. On an annual basis, however, the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted year-over-year increases of 12.6 percent and 12.4 percent in March respectively, the report showed. "The year-over-year changes suggest that prices are rising more slowly," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "Annual price increases for the two Composites have slowed in the last four months and 13 cities saw annual price changes moderate in March." "Among those markets seeing substantial slowdowns in price gains were some of the leading boom-bust markets including Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco and Tampa," Blitzer said. Despite signs of decelerating prices, home prices in all the 20 cities were higher than a year ago, and all but New York saw higher home prices in March than in February, he noted. Blitzer said that recent housing indicators, including housing starts, new home sales and mortgage rates, remain mixed. As of March, average home prices across the United States are back to their mid-2004 levels, the report said. Measured from their June/July 2006 peaks, the peak-to-current decline for both Composites is approximately 19 percent to 20 percent, while the recovery from the March 2012 lows is 24 percent for the 10-City and 20-City Composites, the report revealed.