Chicago-area home prices rose nearly 8 percent this March compared with figures from March 2012, according to new data released this week by S&P/Case Shiller.On a 20-city index, national year-over-year gains were 10.2 percent. Chicago-area home prices increased 7.8 percent, while Phoenix showed the highest gain at 22.5 percent. The lowest gain was New York at 2.6 percent.Crain's Chicago Business reports Chicago's increase as the "fifth straight year-over-year increase."However, Chicago experienced no change in home prices when comparing February 2013 to March 2013, while San Francisco posted the highest month-over-month return at 3.9 percent."Home prices in all 20 cities posted annual gains for the third month in a row," said David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a press release. "Twelve of the 20 saw prices rise at double-digit annual growth. The National Index and the 10 and 20-city composites posted their highest annual returns since 2006.""Other housing market data reported in recent weeks confirm these strong trends: housing starts and permits, sales of new home and existing homes continue to trend higher. At the same time, the larger than usual share of multi-family housing, a large number of homes still in some stage of foreclosure and buying-to-rent by investors suggest that the housing recovery is not complete," said Blitzer.
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