US home prices hit record levels in some states

• 30/07/2013 - 16:32
  US home prices hit record levels in some states

  
  

  30 Jul 2013
  WASHINGTON (AFP)

  

  US home prices rose in May, with Dallas and Denver surging to all-time highs amid a recovering housing market, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller report released Tuesday.
  Home prices climbed 2.4 percent in the 20-city composite index from April, and were up 12.2 percent from May 2012.
  The figures were in-line with the strong April report and the year-over-year gain in May was the best since March 2006, when the price bubble began to collapse.
  Analysts on average had expected a smaller 10.5 percent increase on a yearly basis.
  "House prices have benefited from stronger sales and tighter supply this year and should continue to rise, though at a moderating pace as higher mortgage rates crimp demand," said Chris Low of FTN Financial.
  Home prices in Dallas, Texas, and Denver, Colorado, reached record levels that topped their pre-financial crisis peaks set in June 2007 and August 2006, respectively, the widely watched price index showed.
  "This is the first time any city has made a new all-time high," the S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a statement.
  Five cities -- Atlanta, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle -- posted monthly gains of more than 3.0 percent for the first time.
  The bleak spot in the report was Detroit, Michigan, where prices dropped the most in May, plunging by three percentage points.
  Detroit, the home of the US auto industry, filed for bankruptcy protection on July 18, the largest city to seek a court-supervised reorganization in US history.
  COPY  http://www.afp.com/en/news/