A rare uptick in home prices

House prices in the Boston metropolitan area nudged upward two straight months this spring, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price index.

Boston-area house prices gained 1 percent in May after edging up 0.1 percent in April, the financial-markets research firm reported today. These were the area's first month-to-month price increases since August 2007.

The index tracks repeats sales of existing homes.

However, home prices here are still down 6.2 percent from May 2007. Boston is not being hit as hard as cities in California, Florida and other Sun Belt states. In Las Vegas, prices have plummeted 28.4 percent, Miami 28.3 percent, and San Francisco 22.9 percent.

A 20-city index of house prices tracked by S&P/Case Shiller posted a 15.8 percent price drop over the past year. It was the largest decline since the firm began tracking the data in the late 1980s.
(By Kimberly Blanton, Globe Staff)