Home Prices See Significant Increase Over '09

New York, NY, June 29, 2010--The housing market got some good news Tuesday morning, as the S&P Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose by 3.8% in April over a year ago.

It was the largest year-over-year increase since September 2006. Economists were looking for a jump of 3.4%.

On a month-over-month basis, prices rose by 0.8%. The increase in the 20-city reading was the first month-over-month improvement since last September.

Case-Shiller said prices improved month-over-month in 18 of the 20 cities surveyed.

April marked the last month home buyers could qualify for the government’s homebuyer tax credit, which likely led sellers to hold the line on pricing.