Home prices rise in August

Home prices in the nation’s largest cities rose from July to August, according to a closely watched index, adding to a turnaround in housing this year.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index of 20 American cities, a key measure that is closely watched by economists, rose 0.9% from July to August and 2.0% from August 2011.

Nineteen of the 20 cities posted positive monthly gains in August.

“Home prices continued climbing across the country in August,” David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P; index committee, said in a release announcing the new data Tuesday.

The Phoenix metro area isleading the home price recovery, with home prices there up 18.8% from August 2011. Los Angeles was up 2.1%, San Diego 1.9% and San Francisco 5.3%.

Atlanta continued to lag the recovery down 6.1% year-over-year. Chicago was down 1.6% and New York 2.3%.

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