Rise for 20 metro areas works out to 4.6% from May 2009, data show By Greg Robb, MarketWatch WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Home prices rose 1.3% in May compared with April in 20 major U.S. cities on a seasonally unadjusted basis, according to the Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor's. Prices have moved up 4.6% in the past year, the data showed. Prices rose in 19 of the 20 metropolitan areas tracked by Case-Shiller in May compared with April. Read the complete release. David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's, said the positive May report paints a picture that's a bit misleading. May, he noted, is in the strong seasonal period for home prices. Moreover, there may still be some residual impact from the homebuyers' tax credit. "We need to watch where the housing market will go after these temporary stimuli go away," Blitzer said. He pointed out that housing data for June have not been strong. "It still looks possible that the housing market might bounce along the bottom for the foreseeable future before showing any real improvement that will filter through to the rest of the economy," Blitzer said. In a separate report Tuesday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said its price index of repeat sales rose 0.5% in May compared with April. National home prices were down 1.2% compared with a year earlier, FHFA said. In the Case-Shiller data, the biggest month-to-month increase came in Minneapolis, where May prices rose 2.8%. The only monthly decline was in Las Vegas, where prices nudged 0.5% lower. In the past year, prices were higher in 15 of 20 cities, led by an 18.3% rise in San Francisco. The largest annual decline was again Las Vegas, down 6.5%. Here's a list of the 20 cities in the Case-Shiller index, with percentage changes over the past year: San Francisco, up 18.3%; San Diego, up 12.4%; Minneapolis, up 11.6%; Los Angeles, up 9.7%; Washington, up 7.4%; Phoenix, up 7.2%; Boston, up 4.8%; Cleveland, up 3.7%; Denver, up 3.6%; Dallas, up 2.9%; Atlanta, up 1.7%; Miami, up 1.2%; Portland, up 0.7%; New York, down 0.4%; Seattle, down 1.4%; Chicago, down 1.5%; Tampa, down 1.5%; Detroit, down 2.5%; Charlotte, down 2.8%; and Las Vegas, down 6.5%. On Monday, the Commerce Department reported that new-home sales rose nearly 24% in June, an impressive gain that came on the heels of a severe 37% drop to a new record low level in May. See full story. The Case-Shiller index is based on repeat sales of the same properties.

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