Home prices up month-to-month

U.S. home prices rose for the fourth consecutive month in July, a closely watched housing index showed Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Index found prices rose 0.9 percent in the month in both a 10-city index and a 20-city index compared with June. The chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices David Blitzer said, however, the overall economic picture showed the housing market "is still bottoming and has not turned around." Despite four month-to-month gains, 18 of 20 cities in the report show prices lower than they were in July 2010. July's 10-city index is 3.7 percent below where it was 12 months earlier. The 20-city index is 4.1 percent below July 2010. And a month ago, 19 of 20 cities monitored by the report were up on a month-to-month basis. Still, 17 of 20 cities monitored saw prices go up in July, the report said. Two Sun Belt cities saw prices fall. In Las Vegas, prices fell 0.2 percent. In Phoenix, prices dropped 0.1 percent. In Denver, prices broke even. In other Sun Belt cities included in the report, prices rose 0.1 percent in Charlotte, N.C., and San Diego. In Tampa, Fla., prices rose 0.8 percent. Prices rose highest month-to-month in Rust Belt cities. In Detroit, prices rose 3.8 percent. That was followed by a 2.6 percent rise in Minneapolis, a 2.4 percent rise in Washington and a 1.9 percent rise in Chicago. "This is still a seasonal period of stronger demand for houses, so monthly price increases are expected, " Blitzer said.