US home prices increased in May for the second straight month as federal tax incentives drew more buyers into the market, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday. The index showed a 1.3 percent home price increase in May from April. Nineteen of 20 cities showed price gains from month to month. San Diego, California posted its 13th straight monthly gain. Only Las Vegas, Nevada recorded a decline in price. Financially-embattled Detroit, Michigan recorded a 0.7 percent increase from April-home prices there have hit levels not seen since 1994. The increases reflect on the effectiveness of the US government's home-buying tax credits, which expired at the end of April. The index is an average of home sales in March, April and May. May is typically a strong month for selling homes. Most economists do not expect the price gains to last through the year and many predict home prices will fall through the rest of the year. Nationally, prices have risen 5.1 percent from their April 2009 bottom. But they remain 29 percent below their July 2006 peak. Sales of previously occupied homes fell 5.1 percent in June. New home sales jumped last month, but it was the second-weakest month on record and it came after sales tumbled in May.
