US Home Prices Post Largest Gains Since 2006

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Home prices rose 12.8 percent in August in the 20 cities tracked by the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the largest annual increase since 2006.

All 20 cities in the index posted year-over-year gains. Las Vegas posted the largest increase with a 29.2 percent jump from a year earlier, the biggest increase since 2005. San Francisco was the second biggest gainer with an increase of 25.4 percent.

Both San Francisco and Denver, where prices increased 10.1 percent, posted their highest growth rates since 2001.

The index was up 1.3 percent in August from July. The largest increase was in Las Vegas, where prices increased 3.9 percent, the biggest jump since August 2004. Detroit and Los Angeles posted gains of 2 percent.

"The monthly percentage changes for the 20-City composite show the peak rate of gain in home prices was last April," said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indice. "Since then home prices continued to rise, but at a slower pace each month. This month 16 cities reported smaller gains in August compared to July."

 The Case Shiller index is a month behind the reports by the National Association of Realtors. NAR data released last week found prices in September were up 11.7 percent from a year earlier.

According to Case Shiller, all the cities in the index remain below their peaks, except Denver and Dallas. Las Vegas is down 47.1 percent, despite the recent gains,