海角大神

U.S.聽home聽prices聽climbed at a faster pace in February than the previous month, driven by higher sales and a limited supply of available houses.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city聽home聽price聽index rose 5 percent in February from 12 months earlier, S&P said Tuesday. That is up from a 4.5 percent pace in January.

Faster sales likely drove the聽price聽gain. Signed contracts to buy聽homes聽jumped in February, yet the number of Americans listing their聽homes聽for sale remains low. That has led to bidding wars in some cities.

Home聽prices聽are increasing at a more sustainable pace than in the past two years, when they rose at a double-digit pace for 14 straight months. Yet some economists warn that the ongoing increases may聽price聽many would-be buyers out of the market, particularly as pay gains remain weak.

"While slow and steady growth throughout the country may sound like an unambiguously good thing, some of these markets were unaffordable to begin with and are not getting any cheaper," said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight.

All 20 cities in the index reported year-over-year聽price聽gains in February.聽Home聽prices聽in Denver jumped 10 percent, the most of any city, followed by San Francisco with 9.8 percent. Denver is one of two cities, along with Dallas, where聽prices聽have surpassed their previous peak during the housing boom.聽Prices聽nationwide are 10 percent lower than the July 2006 peak.

Some areas may remain below their bubble peaks for years.聽Home聽prices聽in Las Vegas plunged nearly 62 percent during the housing bust and are still 41.5 percent below their previous peak, S&P said.

The Case-Shiller index covers roughly half of U.S.聽homes. The index measures聽prices聽compared with those in January 2000 and creates a three-month moving average. The February figures are the latest available.

Home聽sales rose at a healthy 6.1 percent pace in March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.19 million, the National Association of Realtors reported last week. That suggested the housing market may be returning to solid ground as the spring buying season gets underway.

Yet there aren't many聽homes聽on the market. Nationwide, the number of聽homes聽for sale is equal to 4.6 months of sales, below the six months that is typically available in a healthy housing market.

Building more new聽homes聽would help boost supply, but聽home聽construction has been weak. Developers are focused increasingly on building apartments and more expensive聽homes聽for wealthier buyers.聽Home聽builders began work on new houses and apartments at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 926,000 in March, down 2.5 percent from the previous year.

One factor pushing up聽prices聽is a steady decline in so-called "distressed" sales, which include foreclosures and short sales. Short sales occur when the seller owes more on a聽home聽mortgage than the house is worth. Both usually sell at steep discounts to traditional聽home聽sales.

Real estate data provider CoreLogic said Tuesday that distressed sales fell to 13.5 percent of all sales in February, down from 16.5 percent a year earlier. Fewer lower-priced distressed sales push up overall聽prices.

That figure has dropped precipitously since it peaked at 32.4 percent in January 2009, during the worst of the housing bust and recession.

Still, the figures also show that the housing market is not yet back to normal. Distressed sales made up just 2 percent of all sales before the housing bust, CoreLogic said.