WASHINGTON (AP) -- Home prices rose in nearly all major U.S. cities in April from March, further evidence that the housing market is slowly improving even while the job market slumps.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index shows increases in 19 of the 20 cities tracked. And a measure of national prices rose 1.3 percent, the first increase in seven months.
San Francisco, Washington and Phoenix posted the biggest increases. Prices fell 3.6 percent in Detroit, the only city to record a drop.
The increases partly reflect the impact of the spring buying season. The month-to-month prices aren't adjusted for seasonal factors. Still, prices in half of the cities are up over the past 12 months.
Home sales have increased in the past year.
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