Home Prices Up for Fourth Month

Single-family home prices climbed in May for the fourth straight month, as 2012's housing market recovery continues to work its way back to healthy levels.

Prices for single-family homes rose in May for the fourth straight month, adding strength to the advance of the housing market this year.

The S&P/Case Shiller composite index, a reading of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas, gained 0.9 percent in May after seasonal adjustments to the rate. When those adjustments are factored out, the market actually gained 2.2 percent.

''With May's data, we saw a continuing trend of rising home prices for the spring,'' David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's, said in a statement.

Blitzer tempered the positive reading by acknowledging that spring and summer are typically strong buying months, and that gains need to continue into the second half of the year to have demonstrable impact on the larger economy.

''The housing market seems to be stabilizing, but we are definitely in a wait-and-see mode for the next few months,'' Blitzer said.