Report says U.S. home prices saw steady growth in January

NEW YORK, March 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. home prices kept rising across the country in January, indicating steady growth of the housing sector.

According to a fresh report released by S&P Dow Jones Indices on Tuesday, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index reported a 6.2-percent annual gain in January, down from 6.3 percent in the previous month.

The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 6.0 percent, no change from the previous month, while the 20-City Composite increased 6.4 percent year on year, up from 6.3 percent in the previous month.

Seattle, Las Vegas and San Francisco reported the highest year-on-year gains among the 20 cities. Seattle led the way with a 12.9-percent year-on-year price increase, followed by Las Vegas (11.1 percent) and San Francisco (10.2 percent).

Before seasonal adjustment, the National Index posted a month-on-month gain of 0.05 percent in January. The 10-City and 20-City Composites both reported increases of 0.3 percent.

"The home price surge continues," David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said.

"While price gains vary from city to city, there are few, if any, really weak spots," he said. "Even Chicago and Washington, the cities with the smallest price gains, saw a 2.4-percent annual increase in home prices." Enditem