US home prices rose last year, most in 6.5 years

WASHINGTON (AP) - Home prices in the United States (US) jumped by the most in 6 years in December, spurred by a low supply of available homes and rising demand.

Home prices rose 8.3 per cent in December compared with a year earlier, according to data on Tuesday from CoreLogic, a real estate data provider. That is the biggest annual gain since May 2006. Prices rose last year in 46 of 50 states.

Home prices also rose 0.4 per cent in December from the previous month. That represented a healthy increase given that sales usually slow over the winter months.

Steady increases in prices are helping fuel the housing recovery. They are encouraging some people to sell homes and enticing some would-be buyers to purchase homes before prices rise further.