U.S. Home Price Growth In Major Cities Holds At 5.1% In September

Home price growth in major U.S. metropolitan areas held steady in the month of September, according to a report released by Standard & Poor's on Tuesday.

The report said the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index saw a year-over-year increase of 5.1 percent in September, unchanged from August. Economists had expected the pace of growth to accelerate to 5.2 percent.

The 20-City Composite Home Price Index was up by 0.4 percent month-over-month in September following an upwardly revised 0.3 percent increase in August.

On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the index inched up by 0.1 percent in September after rising by 0.4 percent in the previous month.

The report also said the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index was up by 5.5 percent year-over-year in September and surpassed the peak set in July of 2006.

"The new peak set by the S&P Case-Shiller CoreLogic National Index will be seen as marking a shift from the housing recovery to the hoped -for start of a new advance" said David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

He added, "While seven of the 20 cities previously reached new post-recession peaks, those that experienced the biggest booms -- Miami, Tampa, Phoenix and Las Vegas -- remain well below their all-time highs."

Wednesday morning, the National Association of Realtors is scheduled to release a separate report on pending home sales in the month of October.