Case-Shiller: 18 of 20 Cities Report Higher Home Prices in July

Home prices continued to stabilize in 18 of the 20 metropolitan areas surveyed in July, an industry survey showed Tuesday. Thirteen of the 20 metro areas have seen prices increase for three or more consecutive months, indicating that the deflationary spiral in the housing market has likely come to an end. (Well, assuming you don't live in Las Vegas…)

“No matter how you measure it, house prices looked to have bottomed, which is the much-needed ingredient required to bake this housing market recovery,” said Jennifer Lee from BMO Capital Markets.

The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index said averages prices improved by 1.6% in July. That puts the annual decline in the 20-city composite at -13.3%, an improvement from the -15.4% print in June and the record -19.0% print in January. To put that in perspective, July’s prices are roughly similar to prices in the autumn of 2003.

“The rate of annual decline in home price values continues to decelerate and we now seem to be witnessing some sustained monthly increases across many of the markets” said David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P’s Index Committee.

Each of the 20 metro areas showed an improvement in the annual rates of decline. And when compared to June, only two cities â€