Home Prices Post Biggest Jump Since 2006

Home prices in major cities across the nation were up 10.9 percent in March from March 2012, the biggest year-over-year increase since April 2006, according to the data trackers who put together the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

Their surveys show that:

— While prices rose 10.9 percent on average across 20 metropolitan areas, the strongest gains were in Phoenix (22.5 percent), San Francisco (22.2 percent) and Las Vegas (20.6 percent).

— The smallest increases were in New York City (2.6 percent),
Cleveland (4.8 percent) and Boston (6.7 percent).

Tuesday’s news follows many other signs in recent months that the housing sector has bounced back from a long decline that began when its so-called bubble burst in 2007. Last week on All Things Considered, NPR’s Adam Davidson talked about how it’s now irrefutable that housing is on the rise again.