U.S. home prices up sixth month in a row; Seattle down slightly
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index of 20 major U.S. cities that was released Tuesday rose 0.2 percent in November, the sixth straight monthly gain. The index fell 5.3 percent compared with November 2008, slightly worse than the 5.1 percent decline expected by economists.
Home prices in the Seattle area dropped 0.5 percent in November from October and were down 10.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the Case-Shiller index. A month ago the report showed that home prices in the Seattle area rose 0.2 percent in October from September, the first monthly increase in almost 2 ½ years.
A collapse in the housing market helped push the nation into a recession. Fresh data has shown signs the housing market recovery is likely to be slow and uneven.
