24/7 Wall St.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for May posted record gains. The 20-city composite rose 12.2% year-over-year, more than the consensus estimate for a gain of 10.9%, and above the record April increase of 12.1%. The 10-city index rose 11.8% year-over-year in May.

The index tracks prices on a three-month rolling average. May is the three-month average of March, April and May prices.

On a month-over-month basis, April prices were up 2.5% on the 10-city composite index and 2.4% on the 20-city composite. House prices in Dallas and Denver set new record highs in May, surpassing pre-crisis peaks set in June of 2007 and August of 2006. From their peaks in June and July 2006, both the 10- and 20-city composites are down about 24% to 25% through May.

The chairman of the S&P index committee said:

The overall report points to some shifts among various markets: Washington DC is no longer the standout leader and the eastern Sunbelt cities, Miami and Tampa, are lagging behind their western counterparts.

San Francisco leads the recovery in house prices, up 24.5% year-over-year, and every metropolitan area in the 20-city composite posted a positive year-over-year change in May. Las Vegas (23.3%) and Phoenix (20.6%) trailed San Francisco in price recovery.

On a month-over-month basis, every metropolitan area posted a price rise, with San Francisco posting a 4.3% jump, followed by Chicago (3.7%), Atlanta (3.4%) and San Diego and Seattle (both 3.1%).