Home Price Index Shows Gains

Thirteen of the 20 cities tracked by the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller report posted annual home price increases in June. Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and San Diego notched annual declines and Boston was flat. Every city posted a monthly increase compared to May.

A key home price index is reporting year-over-year gains in 20 major U.S. cities, the first such gain since 2010.

The S&P/Case-Shiller national index, published quarterly, rose 1.2 percent from the second quarter of 2011 and gained 6.9 percent on the first three months of the year.

All 20 cities measured by the same group's monthly index also showed price gains for the second consecutive month, and 13 out of 20 showed yearly gains. The composite 20-city home price index was up 2.3 percent in June from the previous month, and 0.5 percent above the previous year.

''We seem to be witnessing exactly what we needed for a sustained recovery; monthly increases coupled with improving annual rates of change. The market may have finally turned around,'' said David Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee.