US home prices continue to rise in October

US home prices rose for the 17th consecutive month in October, marking the highest gain since February 2006, the latest report showed Tuesday. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, showed that the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted year-on-year gains of 13.6 percent, above the market expectation of a 13.5 percent advance. The two composites showed a small gain of 0.2 percent in October compared with that in the previous month. Eighteen cities posted lower monthly rates in October than in September. "Home prices increased again in October. However, monthly numbers show we are living on borrowed time and the boom is fading, " said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "The key economic question facing housing is the Fed's future course to scale back quantitative easing and how this will affect mortgage rates," he said. "Other housing data paint a mixed picture suggesting that we may be close to the peak gains in prices. However, other economic data point to somewhat faster growth in the new year. Most forecasts for home prices point to single digit growth in 2014," Blitzer added. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices track monthly changes in the value of residential real estate in 20 metropolitan regions across the United States, which is seen by the markets as measuring changes in existing home prices and is based on single- family home re-sales.