Residential real estate prices fell in April at the slowest pace in more than a year, the latest indication that a recovery in the housing market is gaining traction.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller composite index of prices in 20 metropolitan areas rose 0.7 percent in April from March on a seasonally adjusted basis, topping economists' expectations for a 0.4 percent gain.
The median forecast of 28 economists in a Bloomberg News survey projected a 2.5 percent drop.
Compared to a year ago, home prices fell 1.9 percent in the 20 cities, above expectations for a decline of 2.5 percent, and an improvement from the 2.6 percent annual decline seen in March.
Six years after the housing market's far-reaching collapse that sent prices down more than 30 percent, recent data suggests the sector has finally hit bottom with leaner inventories and record-low mortgage rates encouraging buying.
Another report showed consumer confidence in June fell to a five-month low as Americans became less sanguine about the outlook for jobs and incomes. The Conference Board's index dropped to 62 from a revised 64.4 in the prior month.
Analysts expect the economic recovery to continue at a sluggish pace after growing at a 1.9 percent rate in the first quarter. Standard & Poor's said the United States faced 20 percent odds of falling back into recession, although a slow recovery was still the ratings agency's baseline forecast.
